


Newspaper Club

by WoNdY_Alice



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-04-09 13:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4351442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WoNdY_Alice/pseuds/WoNdY_Alice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone knew Arthur and Merlin hated each other. At least, until the school newspaper publishes an article declaring the two are secretly dating. Now the whole school thinks they're in love. The problem? They aren't!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The blonde girl smirked as she snuck into her high school building. It was late at night and there was no security, so she was free to do whatever she pleased. Picking of the locks to the computer room, she quickly rushed in and closed the door behind her. Vengeance was so close! Her hands trembled in anticipation as she turned on one of the computers and logged into another student’s account. It was easy enough tricking the boy to give her his username and password. All it took was a little flirting.

 Smirking, she found the gossip column of the school newspaper. Normally the article was mundane and discussed how there would be new options on the lunch menu. Not this time though. Quickly erasing the article, she frantically typed a newer, juicier one attached to a photo she emailed herself. She knew no one would notice the change until it was too late, and she prided herself on this elaborate scheme.

 She smirked when she pressed the save button. Now all she had to do was wait until tomorrow.

***

Merlin groaned when the alarm went off, and he quickly pressed the snooze button. Another five minutes of sleep wouldn’t hurt. But, naturally, his phone started to buzz frantically, and he sighed. The universe was just against him sometimes. Picking it up, he smiled when he saw the message was from Gwen.

‘ _Be careful. Elyan told me Arthur’s back from vacation.’_

Merlin frowned and quickly replied, ‘ _I’m always careful! It’s his fault he’s such a prat!’_

Merlin could almost see Gwen receiving the message and rolling her eyes. It was true though! Arthur Pendragon was the son of the principal, Uther Pendragon, and he came from a wealthy family, which resulted in him thinking he could get away with anything. Merlin once caught him picking on a boy, and he defended him. Ever since, Arthur and Merlin fought whenever they were in the same room together. It was common knowledge among most of the student body, and teachers even knew to separate the two boys when they were in the same classes.

_‘Just ignore him Merlin. Please? For me?’_

He sighed and texted back, _‘Fine. But only for you.’_            

She replied with a smiley, and he laughed in response. The joy was short lived though. The alarm went off again causing him to flinch. Rolling his eyes, he jumped out of bed and quickly shut off his annoying alarm. Who knew? Maybe today would be a good day.         

If only he knew how wrong he was.

***

Arthur began shoving textbooks into his bag from his locker. He was exhausted from waking up so early. During his vacation, he was able to sleep in for an entire week. It messed up his sleep schedule though, and it frustrated him. Slamming his locker door shut, he was about to walk to homeroom but stopped. All of his friends were standing around him with upset expressions. “What?” he joked. “Not happy to see me?”          

“Arthur…” Percival squirmed. “Do you trust us?”

The blond blinked in surprise. What on earth? “Where’s this coming from?” he asked.

Elyan crossed his arms. “You didn’t tell us the truth, that’s where it’s coming from. Did you think we wouldn’t find out? We’re your best friends, Arthur!”

 “I know that,” Arthur rubbed his forehead and turned to Lancelot. He hadn’t said a word yet and just stared at him with sad eyes. Arthur flinched at the look and instead diverted his attention to Leon, who just looked disappointed. What on earth happened in the week he was away? He didn’t keep many secrets from his friends, and the ones he did keep were so personal that they would have had no way of finding them out. “What did I not tell you?”    

“You didn’t tell us that—” Elyan started angrily, but was quickly interrupted by Lancelot.          

“Guys!” Lancelot finally stepped in. “You’re not handling the situation well! This is probably why he didn’t tell us!”          

“What is going on?”         

“Arthur!” Lancelot turned to his best friend. Looking at him straight in the eye, Lancelot stated, “We are your friends, and we accept you no matter what.”         

“Excuse me?” Arthur frowned. Where was this coming from?         

“We support you.” Lancelot affirmed, smiling brightly at him. “If you’re into men, we don’t care. We’re just upset that you went to so many great lengths to hide it.”          

Arthur’s entire body froze. “What?” He hissed out.        

“We know you’re dating Merlin!” Leon blurted out.         

“WHAT?!”

 

***

           

Merlin frowned when he walked into school. Everyone was staring at him. Some people even turned and started frantically whispering to their friends, and Merlin didn’t understand why. What had he done this time? Shaking his head, he decided to just go to homeroom and ask Gwen about it. Although she didn’t seem like it, Gwen adored gossip and knew basically everything about everyone. It was actually kind of scary.          

Walking into homeroom, everyone immediately stared at him. He frowned and slowly made his way to Gwen, who was reading the school newspaper as though it were one of the greatest novels she’s ever read. Strange considering barely anyone read the school newspaper. “Gwen?” Merlin whispered, sitting in the desk in front of hers. “What’s going on? Everyone’s staring at me…”         

Instead of receiving an answer, Gwen slowly looked up from the pages of the newspapers and gawked at him.          

“G-Gwen?” Merlin asked. “What is it?”           

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she finally exclaimed, leaning towards him. “I already knew you were into men! Why didn’t you tell me you were interested in a specific man?”           

“I did?” Merlin’s eyebrows furrowed. “Or did you forget how you had to buy me ice cream and watch stupid chick flicks whenever I was upset about him?”           

She shook her head. “I can’t believe it. You were using a fake crush to talk about your relationship issues! Merlin, that’s brilliant! Manipulative, but brilliant!”           

“Gwen, I don’t—”        

“Was it because of Will?” she interrupted. “Did you think he wouldn’t accept it, so you decided not to tell me either? I mean, I guess I understand since he’s been your friend since pre-school, but just because—”         

“Gwen!” Merlin exclaimed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about!”           

She blinked in confusion. “This,” she said, handing him the newspaper.           

Frowning, he glanced at the top of the article and gaped.           

‘ _ARTHUR AND MERLIN: SECRETLY DATING’_           

Next to the title was a photo of the two of them. Merlin was being pressed against the lockers, and his face was flushed as he stared into the eyes of Arthur, the one pinning him to the lockers. Their faces were close, and it looked as though they were about to kiss. Merlin frowned, remembering that day. Arthur was being a jerk, again, so Merlin called him out on it. A few insults later and Merlin was being pressed against the lockers as they screamed at each other.          

Without the context though, it did not look like they were fighting. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Merlin paled. “You believe this?”           

“Well yes,” Gwen blinked, surprised Merlin would even ask. “It explains how you two wanted to keep it a secret, so you fought over every little thing so no one would expect it.”          

“But we’re actually fighting!”           

“Oh!” Gwen appeared surprised. “You fight as a couple too?”          

“No!” Merlin groaned. “We’re not a couple! Clearly this newspaper is lying.”          

Gwen gave him a skeptical look. “Merlin, you two are about to kiss in the photo.”       

“We were fighting!”         

“Doesn’t look like much of a fight…”          

“Gwen!”          

She giggled at how red he was becoming. “Relax Merlin. You definitely aren’t dating Arthur?”         

“I’m not.” He confirmed. “Nor would I ever.”           

“Alright,” Gwen smiled. “Then I believe you.”           

“Thank you,” Merlin leaned back with a sigh of relief. “I can’t believe the school actually published something like this… especially since Uther’s the principal! He’s going to be furious someone started rumors like this about his son.”           

Right as he mentioned that, Arthur burst into homeroom with all of his friends behind him. His eyes darted around the room, searching for someone specific. Merlin gulped, knowing it would be him. Once their eyes met, Arthur’s face flushed in anger as he took a step forward. “Merlin,” he warningly stated.         

“What?” Merlin jumped up, glaring at him. “I had nothing to do with this!”           

As if to emphasize his point, he waved his hands in the direction of the newspaper. Arthur was about to open his mouth and shout at him but quickly noticed the class eagerly watching. Clenching his fists, he jerked his head towards the door as though to signal they needed to talk in private.         

Strangely enough, Merlin understood the gesture and grabbed his backpack. “I’ll be right back,” he smiled at Gwen. Once he turned towards Arthur, he immediately glared at him and started walking towards the door. Arthur rolled his eyes, and the two exited homeroom together, prepared to discuss what the heck was going on with the newspaper. The entire classroom watched as they walked out of the class together. After that interaction, everyone in the classroom thought the same thing:           

_Arthur and Merlin are definitely dating!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin and Arthur talk about the newspaper article, and Merlin meets Uther.

Merlin followed Arthur out of homeroom and into the vacant hallway.  _Great,_  he thought to himself, _no witnesses if he decides to murder me._ Still he sucked it up and followed him until they were far from their class. Many of the students obnoxiously stared at them as they were walking out, and Merlin knew they most likely would have eavesdropped if they stayed near. "Alright," Arthur sighed, turning around to Merlin. "What the hell is going on?"

"How should I know?" Merlin countered.

"Because you're a part of this!"

"So are you." He stubbornly crossed his arms.

"Yes but I'm important," he obnoxiously replied. "I can't have the whole school thinking I'm gay! Or worse, that I'm gay with you!"

Merlin scowled. "This is inconvenient for me too! I don't want people thinking I'm your boyfriend!"

"Why not?" Arthur's tone changed. He sounded confused. "Everyone wants me to be their boyfriend. This works out well for you considering it's me."

He could instantly feel the headache coming. Merlin rubbed his forehead, wondering how anyone could be so idiotic and obnoxious. When Merlin raised his head to meet Arthur's eyes, he was surprised to see Arthur expected an answer. Merlin merely rolled his eyes. "Look it's just inconvenient for me, okay?"

Arthur shrugged, not bothering to push Merlin into admitting anything. For once, he actually appreciated something Arthur did. He knew if Arthur asked, he would start to blush and stammer out a ridiculous lie. "It's bad for both of us. We just have to prove the article wrong."

Merlin frowned. "And how are we going to do that? I already tried telling one of my best friends that it was a lie, and she didn't believe me!"

"By ignoring each other," he supplied. "If we don't give them any fights or interactions, they'll eventually forget about the article!"

Merlin opened his mouth, prepared to protest, but instantly closed it after the comment. It was actually a good idea. If the school saw a lack of interaction, they'd become bored with the "couple" and forget about the article. It was actually brilliant. He grinned. "That's not a completely dumb idea!"

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Thanks?"

"Sorry I just figured you'd have a dumb idea," he replied honestly.

"You're an idiot," the blond mumbled under his breath. "Come on, let's go back to homeroom."

Merlin nodded and silently followed Arthur back to the classroom. Their plan was going to work. It had to.

When they made it back to homeroom, the entire class stared at them. It wasn't subtle, and Merlin instantly flushed at all the attention. Arthur must have noticed, and he rolled his eyes at the boy. Glaring at him, Merlin was about to say something about Arthur's look, but he shut his mouth. They couldn't interact. The class would think their fights were fake. Instead of fighting him, Merlin just walked to his seat where Gwen was. She smiled at him. "Well? How'd it go?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he grumbled, sitting at his desk.

Gwen's gaze became sympathetic. "Did you fight with him?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Merlin argued. "Honestly, Gwen, why would I date someone like him?"

Gwen pretended to think about it. "Well he is quite handsome."

"He's a bully!"

She snorted. "He hasn't been a bully in years. I'm guessing you had something to do with that?"

When she outright winked at him, Merlin let his head fall into his hands in embarrassment. It would definitely be a while before people deduced the two of them weren't dating.

***

Merlin walked into his biology course, silently cursing everyone who stared at him. Wherever he went, both students and teachers were watching him. Some people even had the nerve to try and talk to him about his relationship with Arthur! A couple of girls shyly approached him and asked how he'd managed to make Arthur fall in love with him. When he answered that they weren't in love, the girls just sympathetically stared at him and claimed they supported the couple. They thought he was scared to come out!

He was already out, for goodness sake!

At one point, a group of Arthur's ex-girlfriends approached him and asked if Arthur's father knew. When he had tried to explain they weren't dating, the girls cut him off and warned him how mean Mr. Pendragon was towards Arthur's girlfriends. "He refused to let me into Arthur's house!" One girl, Mithian, had exclaimed. The group of girls nodded their heads in agreement and talked about their individual horror stories involving Arthur's father.

"Just be careful!" Vivian had told him. "You and Arthur make such a cute couple, and we'd hate to see Mr. Pendragon ruin it!"

It was one of the strangest interactions he'd ever experienced.

Sighing, he glanced at Gaius, the teacher for the biology course. Unlike the majority of teachers, Gaius insisted on being called by his first name in the classroom. He was one of Merlin's favorite teachers, and he desperately hoped the older man wouldn't have conservative views on his sexuality. Before the article, he kept his orientation quiet. While he wasn't in the closet, he didn't blurt it out to everyone he knew. Now the newspaper did that for him.

Merlin took a seat at his lab table and glanced at the empty seat next to him. Arthur was originally supposed to sit next to him, but due to their fighting, Gaius moved Arthur closer to the front of the room. Now the two of them had to sit alone, without any lab partners. At the time, Merlin had been furious that Arthur ruined his chances at having a proper lab partner. Now he was thankful. If they didn't sit next to each other, no one would be constantly watching them.

When the bell rang, Merlin jumped. He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't realize class was about to start.

Gaius walked in front of the classroom and awkwardly glanced at Merlin then at Arthur. "Arthur," Gaius coughed, "given the discovery of… you relationship, would you like to change you seat?"

Arthur flushed and turned around, glaring at Merlin. "No," he gritted his teeth together. "I'm fine where I am."

Gaius frowned at the statement but eventually shrugged it off. "You can always change if you want."

With that statement, Gaius turned to the chalkboard and began instructing the students. Merlin eagerly listened and jotted down everything Gaius wrote on the board. In a few short minutes, he managed to forget all of the drama from this morning. Until Gaius's phone rang from his desk. Blinking, Gaius walked to the phone and picked it up. "This is Gaius," he answered professionally. "Yes. Alright. I'll send him over."

Gaius hesitantly hung up the phone and turned to Merlin. "Merlin?" he spoke up. "Mr. Pendragon would like to speak to you."

Merlin blinked, "Um… now?"

"Yes." He replied as though it was obvious. "Now."

Merlin immediately sought out Arthur in the class. Arthur just shrugged at him, but Merlin could see the underlying panic in his eyes. Standing up, Merlin reluctantly walked out of the classroom and towards the principal's office. He really, really hoped this wasn't about the article, but he highly doubted it. What else could Mr. Pendragon possibly want to see him for?

He slowly walked into the office and told the secretary his name. Nodding her head, she lead him to Mr. Pendragon's office and wished him good luck. Somehow that did not make him feel any better. She closed the door behind her, leaving Merlin to stand in the middle of the office.

Mr. Pendragon was facing the window, not even looking at the poor boy. "S-sir?" Merlin stammered.

Mr. Pendragon turned to him. "Merlin," he smiled. "Sit."

Nodding his head, Merlin immediately made his way to the seat, plopping down and staring fearfully at the man. "Sir?" he asked.

"Merlin," Uther made his way across the room and sat behind his desk. "Some teachers have brought a certain newspaper article to my attention. I assume you know the one I am speaking of?"

Merlin nodded, his hands shaking. "I'm pretty sure I do." He stated, trying to look braver than he felt.

"Our school prohibits such… personal articles." Uther folded his hands together. "I was told that the original article was supposed to be about the upcoming football game between our rival school. Yet this morning it was about you and my son."

"I know." Merlin flinched. "Well, I know about the article. I didn't know it was tampered with… although I did guess."

"Did you write the article?" Uther's eyes narrowed.

Merlin frowned. "Of course not! Why would I publish an article like that?"

Uther nodded. Whatever he saw in Merlin's expression, he found it sincere enough. Merlin sighed in relief. At least he wasn't in trouble for hacking into the school's computers and changing the documents. "I read the article," Uther confessed, leaning back on his chair. "It… surprised me."

"Me too," he grumbled.

Uther narrowed his eyes at the comment and leaned forward, almost intimidatingly. "I have seen you fighting with my son on multiple occasions. Both of you have been sent here due to your disputes. Those seemed far too real to fake. Am I correct?"

Merlin nearly cried in relief. Of course Uther would see through the lie of the article! He was a smart man and the father of Arthur. He'd know this whole dating rumor was a lie! Merlin nodded eagerly. "Of course!" He blurted out. "I mean, no offense, but your son's a prat! I mean, he's not a terrible person, but he's too used to getting his way and can be really rude and spoiled. If I don't call him out on it, who will?"

Uther nodded, searching Merlin's expression once again for any sign of a lie. Finding none, the man suddenly grinned, and it made Merlin feel extremely uncomfortable. He was happy Merlin called his son a spoiled prat?

"I am happy we had this conversation," Uther grinned. "Are you free tonight?"

"T-tonight?" Merlin questioned. "Yes? Why—"

"I'd like to invite you to have dinner with my family." Uther declared. Judging by his tone, it wasn't an invite but a demand. "I'd like to get to know my son's boyfriend a little more."

"What?" he exclaimed. "But—"

"Go back to class," Uther grinned. "I'll have Arthur pick you up at around six."

"But Mr. Pendragon—"

"Call me Uther." He declared. "Now go back to class. We can continue this discussion over dinner."

Knowing there was no point in fighting, Merlin numbly stood up and walked out of the office. What just happened? For a second, Merlin thought Uther definitely saw through the lie. It seems he bought it, just like everyone else in the school. As he walked through the halls, he wondered how his life became this dramatic mess.

When he finally made it back to his biology class, he wasn't surprised at the blatant stares everyone gave him. Even Arthur appeared pale and worried. Gaius watched him as he made his way to his seat and didn't bother saying anything until he sat down. Once Merlin met his eyes, Gaius instantly turned towards the board and continued his lesson.

A few seconds passed, and suddenly Arthur grabbed his bags and textbooks. The blond literally dashed to Merlin's table and threw himself in the seat next to him. "What happened?" Arthur whispered. "What did he say?"

The two boys ignored the entire class watching them.

Merlin hesitantly turned to Arthur. "He… um… he invited me over for dinner."

Arthur blinked. "What?"

"I tried telling him that we… but he kept interrupting me," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "He thinks we're dating, and he invited me over for dinner, and should I be scared?"

Arthur parted his lips, silent for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't know," he confessed. "He's… he's never invited any of my girlfriends over. This is the first time he's done something like this."

"So either he really likes me or he really hates me?" Merlin clarified.

"Basically."

"Great," he grumbled, turning his eyes away from the board. "You're picking me up at six, by the way."

"I am?"

Merlin nodded, writing his address and cell phone number on a sheet of paper. Handing it to Arthur, he stated, "Please make sure your dad's not going to murder me."

Arthur slowly nodded, taking the sheet of paper in his hands. "I'll try."

Tonight was going to be terrible.


	3. Chapter 3

Merlin nearly cried in relief when the bell rang. It was lunch time, which meant Merlin would have a whole forty-five minutes to sit down with his friends and forget about what Uther was going to do to him at dinner that night. It was a frightening thought, and Arthur's comments in biology class did not help sooth his worries. Grabbing his bag, he walked out of the classroom. At this point, everyone had heard about the article, and they adjusted to seeing Merlin. There were far less stares than there were that morning, and Merlin was thankful for it.

Sighing, he opened his bright red locker and shoved his texts books in. He pulled out his lunch and turned around only to nearly scream. Lancelot was standing behind him, staring at him as though he were some sort of fascinating object. Merlin instantly flushed under the gaze. "Um… hi?"

Lancelot beamed. "Hello Merlin. How did you like our lit class today?"

Merlin blinked at the strange question. "I liked it?" he frowned at the boy. Lancelot rarely talked to him. During the few times they've actually spoken, Lancelot had been chivalrous and nice, but never this happy. Something had changed… Merlin stared at him. "How did you like it?"

"I loved reading about the multiple lenses that we can use to analyze different pieces of literature." Of course Lancelot sounded like he was from Shakespeare's poetry. Of course he had that perfect smile and the honest-to-goodness smile.

"Great," and of course Merlin had to be awkward around him. "That's… yeah."

Lancelot nodded. "Want me to walk you to the cafeteria?"

 _Hell yeah._  Merlin coughed. "Um… sure? Yeah, that's aright. Okay…"

The dark haired boy grinned, and the two started walking to the cafeteria together. It was mostly filled with Lancelot's fluent and poetic words and Merlin fumbling around for something to say. By the time they were half way to the cafeteria, Merlin just couldn't take it anymore and blurted out, "Why are you walking me to the cafeteria? And talking to me? No offense but we don't really talk that often."

Lancelot nodded, seeming embarrassed by the questions. "Well," for the first time, it was Lancelot speaking awkwardly and not Merlin. "I just want to know my best friend's boyfriend. I feel bad not knowing anything about you when you've made such a big impact in Arthur's life."

Lancelot blinked in surprise when Merlin actually groaned. "No!" Merlin exclaimed. "We're not dating! I haven't done anything to impact Arthur's life! The article is lying!"

"I see," Lancelot's eyes softened. "Arthur's made the same claims. I'm sorry this world has expressed so much hatred towards homosexuality that you two feel the need to continue hiding your relationship when nothing but support has been expressed."

Merlin gaped at him. First of all, who talked like that? It was majestic and amazing and so damn  _comforting._  Second, why would no one believe them? They hardly acted like a couple, and the article only had a stupid picture as proof. He sighed, "Lancelot, it's not like that. Actually I—"

"Merlin!"

Oh great. Merlin groaned again and turned to see Will standing at the cafeteria doors, heavily glaring at him. This was the first time all day they had seen each other, and Merlin had no doubt that Will heard the rumors. "Will," he calmly said, "Will it's not—"

"How could you be going out with that asshole?" he practically exploded. "And not tell me either? What the hell, Merlin? He's a dick!"

"William," Lancelot stated in an authorial voice. "Please refrain yourself from shouting. Merlin can date whom he pleases, and Arthur is a good person. You have no right—"

"Oh shut up!" Will turned his glare toward Lancelot. "You'd be angry too if your best friend lied to you and was dating someone you hated! Merlin, what the hell? I thought you hated Arthur but you're shagging him! You—"

"Need to calm down."

Lancelot, Merlin, and Will turned to the side to see Arthur standing there with his arms crossed. Elyan, Percival, and Leon stood behind him, each staring in shock at the situation. Will gaped at him for a moment before growling, "You! You're the one who tricked Merlin into dating you!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "We're not dating! Honestly are you so stupid that you believe everything you read?"

"Um… Arthur," Merlin spoke up. "Your friends believe it too?"

"Shut up Merlin."

"Okay then," Merlin pouted.

"Don't tell him to shut up!" Will continued yelling making Merlin glance around, worried. Any moment now a teacher could walk out and lecture the boy for shouting in the halls. "And you! I thought we were friends!"

"We are!" Merlin exclaimed, troubled by the comment. Was Will implying they weren't friends anymore? Over a stupid article that turned out to be a lie? Will had been his best friend since elementary school! The first person he went to when he realized he had feelings for other boys! He couldn't just end their friendship like that.

Will snorted, "You could've fooled me."

"Will—"

"No!" The blond glared at him. "When you feel like being honest with me, then we can talk."

With that statement, Will whirled around and walked away from the group, purposefully knocking his side into Merlin. The paler boy stumbled and nearly fell if it weren't for Arthur, who caught his arm and balanced him. Merlin didn't have the energy to turn and glare at him. Instead his eyes were fixated on the back of his best friend, who just walked away from him like it was nothing. "Merlin?" Arthur's voice softened. "You alright?"

Merlin turned to Arthur and gave him a 'of course I'm not alright, how could I possibly be alright' look. Arthur bit the inside of his cheek and sighed. "He's overreacting. He'll get over it."

"Not Will," he shook his head. "Will's probably the most stubborn person I've ever met."

"And he'll get over it," Arthur reaffirmed. "You two have been friends for how long?"

Merlin frowned, wondering why Arthur was asking such a question. "Ten years I guess," he mumbled.

"Exactly. Merlin, you don't end ten years of friendship over something this stupid," he said. "He'll get over it. It might take a bit, but he will."

Merlin nodded and sighed, glancing at the hand on his arm. Throughout the entire conversation, Arthur somehow managed to forget to let go of him. Almost as though Arthur thought he'd fall over if he wasn't kept upright. Merlin rolled his eyes and sent Arthur an exaggerated look. Frowning, Arthur followed Merlin's gaze and blinked when he found his hand still on Merlin. He quickly dropped it as though Merlin's arm suddenly burned.

That's when Lancelot decided to speak up, "You usually sit with Will at lunch, don't you?"

Merlin flushed. "Um… yeah."

"I don't think he's coming back," Leon observed, seeming to understand what Lancelot was implying.

"You can sit with us then." Elyan declared, crossing his arms with a smile.

Merlin blinked, glancing around at Arthur's friends. "That's alright. I can just sit with Gwen."

"You sure?" Percival asked, his expression sympathetic. "We don't mind. You just had a fight with your best friend, so don't you want to sit with your boyfriend? Have him comfort you and all that?"

"We don't mind if you two get a little too coupley," Elyan added. "It's fine."

Arthur rolled his eyes, literally placing his hands over his face in embarrassment. Even Merlin flushed a bit. "That's really fine," he tried to say no. "I sit with Gwen so—"

"Gwen's my sister, so I don't think she'll be lonely if you're preoccupied with your boyfriend," Elyan cut in. "I can always talk to her about stuff."

Percival frowned. "Stuff?"

"Yeah… stuff."

"I'm really fine," Merlin tried to convince them.

"Guys," Arthur glared at them.

"That settles it then." Elyan grinned. "You're sitting with us."

Suddenly Merlin felt hands on him. Elyan softly grabbed his left arm while Leon had the right. Both boys literally walked him into the cafeteria as the other boys trailed behind them. Lancelot was apologizing for his friends' bluntness, Percival was asking if he was okay, and Arthur was glaring at him as though it were all his fault. When they arrived at the table, Merlin was forced to sit between Arthur and Lancelot, who was still apologizing for his friends' rude behavior.

Merlin groaned, rubbing his forehead. At this point, he had forgotten the amount of headaches he'd had that day. "You okay?" Arthur suddenly asked.

Merlin nodded. "It's just… today was not what I expected."

Arthur snorted. "No it is not."

"How are you so calm about this?" Merlin asked, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"I don't know," Arthur shrugged. His blue eyes wandered across the table, landing on each one of his friends, who were laughing at each other. None were paying attention to the two of them. "I guess I'm happy how accepting they are. Even if it's not real… my old friends wouldn't have."

Merlin nodded in agreement. "I remember those guys… they were awful."

"They were."

"Almost as awful as you were," Merlin gave him a pointed look.

Arthur smirked. "I wasn't that bad."

"You were terrible."

"… Maybe a little."

Merlin rolled his eyes, glancing at Elyan making fun of Percival for some trivial manner. "I like your new friends much better."

Arthur fondly smiled. "Me too."

"They don't bully me nearly as much."

"Bully?" Arthur's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean bully?"

Merlin frowned, staring at Arthur with a questioning expression. Did he really not know? Before he could explain what he meant, Leon interrupted him by abruptly coughing in a clear attempt to gain Merlin's attention. It worked, and Merlin turned away from Arthur. In front of him stood Gwen, who was smiling brightly at him. "Not dating, right?" she gave him a wicked grin.

"No!" Arthur and Merlin protested at the same time. They glanced at each other, scowled, and turned back to Gwen.

She giggled and turned to Elyan. "Mind if I sit?"

"Go ahead," Elyan scooted over to give her room. She sat down across from Merlin and smiled brightly.

"Hi Gwen," he sighed.

"Hi Merlin," she winked only to glance around. "Where's Will?"

That immediately dampened the mood at the table. Merlin bit his bottom lip and sighed. "He's angry with me because of the article."

Gwen's eyes softened. "Oh that's too bad," she mumbled. "He'll get over it. I know he will."

"See?" Arthur pointed at her, giving Merlin a look that clearly stated 'I told you so.' "She agrees."

Gwen raised an eyebrow, a grin forming on her lips.

Merlin scowled. "She doesn't agree. She just made the same point."

"That's basically the same thing."

"No it isn't! There's a slight difference."

"Either way, we agree that Will is going to get over it eventually, and you shouldn't worry about it."

"Saying I shouldn't worry about it doesn't make me stop worrying about it," Merlin argued.

"How about this," an almost evil smirk came onto Arthur. "Instead of worrying about Will, how about you worry about how you'll impress my father at dinner tonight?"

Merlin groaned, burying his head in his hands. "Oh no… don't remind me."

"His father?" Gwen exclaimed.

"You're meeting Uther?" Leon's eyes went wide.

Both boys ignored their friends.

"You'll probably have to wear a suit," Arthur continued to tease the poor boy.

"I don't own any!"

"How can you not own a suit?"

"By never going anywhere fancy!"

"Now that's just ridiculous."

"We can't all come from rich families, you prat!"

"Even people who don't still own suits, you idiot!"

The entire table watched closely as Merlin and Arthur continued arguing. It wasn't anything new. In fact, it happened on a daily basis. Beforehand, they thought it was due to their mutual hatred for each other. Perhaps it used to be like that. Back when their fights had harsher words meant to hurt the other, there was no doubt they detested one another. Now? Now they could see the difference.

They never noticed until the article revealed they were dating. Their insults were far less harsh and meant to tease rather than to hurt. Whenever the other said a particularly witty comeback, the other would slightly smirk before replying to it. It was more of a game than it was an argument.

"I never noticed how well they fit together," Gwen whispered to her brother.

Elyan nodded. "Now we just need to get them to admit they're actually dating."

"Honestly, we're all supportive. Why do they think they still need to hide it?" She questioned.

"Maybe we haven't been supportive enough," he shrugged. "Will's angry, and Arthur doesn't know what Uther thinks of him yet. We just have to show them it doesn't matter what they think, and they can be comfortable around us."

"And how do we do that?"

"By going to the most manipulative person I know," Elyan grinned. "Have you ever heard of Arthur's sister Morgana?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merlin has dinner with the Pendragon family.

Merlin picked out his best blue button down shirt and black skinny jeans. He didn't own any dress pants, and he hoped Uther wouldn't notice. If he did, hopefully Arthur would at least defend him. Throughout the day, Arthur had been compassionate, supportive, and sweet. It was unnerving. Arthur was usually a selfish prat who would argue over everything! Maybe it was because Arthur knew they were stuck in the situation together and needed to work together to get out of it.

He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair and wondering when his life had become like this.

"Merlin?" Hunith knocked on the door to his room. "Can I come in?"

"Go ahead," Merlin called out, and his mother shyly opened the door and walked in. She was careful not to step on anything on the floor, and she looked Merlin up and down.

"You look nice!" She grinned happily. "Who are you dressing up for? A boy, perhaps?"

He flushed. "It's complicated," he murmured, his gaze shifting back to the buttons on his shirt. He fiddled with the last button a bit, unsure of how to explain the situation to his mother. It was hard enough trying to explain it to Gwen, and Will refused to listen him that day. He didn't want his mom to not believe him either.

"I see," Hunith nodded and smiled. "Well I'll be in the kitchen. Just let me know when you leave, okay?"

He agreed, and she swiftly walked out of the room to give her son time to prepare. Merlin sighed and looked back in the mirror again. His phone buzzed again, and he rolled his eyes. He picked it up and saw it was from Gwen, who continually asked if he needed help picking out an outfit or if he was okay. She even offered to talk to him afterwards on how it went.

Normally he would be flustered by the actions, but then he remembered what Arthur said earlier that day on how he was happy his friends supported his nonexistent homosexuality and boyfriend. It made Merlin appreciate Gwen's support even if it was unnecessary. He sent her a quick text saying he would be fine before shoving his phone in his pocket. It was almost six, and he was growing more nervous by the second.

"Merlin!" Hunith shouted. "A cute boy's at the door for you!"

He blushed and instantly dashed out of the room and down the small flight of stairs. True to her word, Arthur was standing at the door in a red button up shirt and black dress pants. Merlin couldn't help himself when he blurted out, "Thought you were going to wear a suit."

Arthur frowned at him. "I said you should wear a suit, not me. I don't need to impress my own father tonight."

"Father?" Hunith exclaimed.

"I'll explain later," Merlin waved her off. "I'll be back by eight."

"Nine," Arthur interjected.

Merlin blinked. "Nine? How long do your dinners usually last?"

"Well considering I'm introducing my 'boyfriend' to my conservative father and overly liberal sister, I'd say we'd have to add in the extra hour for the fighting, apologizing, and dessert," Arthur shuddered. "Trust me, it's going to be a long night."

Merlin instantly groaned, and Hunith cut in, "You're not the best at being comforting, are you?" she said with a small smile.

"Nope," Arthur grinned before turning to Merlin. "Ready?"

He sighed. "Let's get this over with."

The two boys stepped into the car, and on habit, Arthur ended up opening the passenger's door for Merlin, who raised an eyebrow at the action. Once he realized what he did, he flushed and immediately let go of the car door. "Habit," he mumbled.

"You're actually chivalrous towards your dates?" Merlin could hardly imagine Arthur being so nice and romantic for someone.

"Believe it or not, I'm not a prat one hundred percent of the time," he smirked.

The rest of the drive was spent lightheartedly arguing over how often Arthur was a prat and how to calculate the exact percentage for when he was or was not a prat. It wasn't until they arrived at his mansion that the two became quiet. Fiddling with his fingers, Merlin glanced at Arthur, who was staring at his own house with nervousness. "So how do you have all this money when your dad's just a principal?" He ended up asking.

Arthur turned to him and seemed almost relieved at the distraction. "My grandfather was a rich man on my dad's side, and my grandfather on my mom's side was also rich. We had so much money that my father could do anything he wanted to do without ever worrying about money. He decided he wanted to be a principal, and my mother ended up combining the two companies my grandfather's owned and became the CEO of that."

"So your mom makes the most money in your house?" From what he'd heard of Uther, he was a conservative man. It seemed rather progressive of him to let his wife work the higher paid job.

"Used to…" Arthur whispered, and the car grew silent after that.

Merlin bit his lip. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"What was she like?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. She died giving birth to me, so I never really had a mother. I just know her from what people told me about her."

Merlin nodded. "I'm sure she was lovely."

"She was." Arthur smiled softly.

Unsure of what to say, Merlin just blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, "My father isn't around either."

"I'm sorry to hear. How'd he die?" Merlin frowned in confusion at Arthur's question. He sounded sympathetic, like he truly didn't know about his father. Arthur must have noticed his expression and was about to make a comment about it, but Merlin beat him to it.

"I don't know," Merlin shrugged. "I'm not even sure if he died. He wasn't married to my mom or anything. He told her he had things he needed to do, and he left. She didn't even know she was pregnant until a month later, and she thought he'd come back in time for my birth, but he never did."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"You didn't know?" Merlin tilted his head in confusion. "I thought you knew…"

"How would I know?"

"Your old friends did," he tried to keep his face blank. "So I figured you knew too."

Arthur snorted, "My old friends were downright terrible people. After a while, I started distancing myself from them when I realized it. I don't really know what they were up to after that."

Merlin's lip twitched in an almost smile. "That was a good choice."

"Yes, I thought we already established this at lunch today?"

"We did, but it's nice to hear you admitting you used to be a terrible person with terrible people," Merlin outright grinned. "It means that I had every right to call you names back then."

Arthur burst out laughing, jokingly shoving Merlin's arm. "Oh shut up."

"Telling your dinner date to shut up? What happened to be chivalrous?"

"Well apparently I have to be a prat 83.8 percent of the time, and I've been far too nice to you today. I need to get my daily fill of terribleness, or I'll shrivel up and die."

The two boys continued laughing. It was the first time one of their conversations took a positive turn instead of a negative one, and Merlin was secretly thankful for that. If he was going to meet Uther today, he wanted to be a little relaxed before he did. Once the thought came into his mind, his laughter slowly died down. Arthur noticed and gulped when he remembered why Merlin was over in the first place.

"You ready?" Arthur glanced at him.

"No." He replied honestly. "Do you think we can convince him we're not dating?"

"He's stubborn. Once he thinks something, he rarely changes his mind," Arthur sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

Together the two exited the car and approached the mansion. When Arthur opened the doors to the inside of the house, Merlin expected multiple servants to greet him. Instead there was no one. It was just a big, fancy, empty house. He frowned as Arthur led him towards the dinning room. Did it ever get lonely in here? With Merlin's small house, it was messy, dirty, and homey. This mansion had none of those things making it feel less family-oriented. Part of Merlin pitied the Pendragon family for this while another part envied the lack of financial worries.

"Arthur!" Uther gave his son a strained grin. "You're late."

"Sorry," he didn't sound apologetic in the slightest. "We ended up having a long conversation in the car."

A soft, feminine laugh responded to that as Uther flushed bright red. Merlin blinked and took a step to the side to see where the laughter was coming from. A beautiful girl was sitting at the table. Her long, black hair was in a braid, and she wore a fancy, form fitting dress at the dinner table. If Merlin was straight, he knew he'd be head over heels for her, but he wasn't. Still he could see the appeal.

"Not like that!" Arthur glared at his family. "Get your heads out of the gutter!"

Merlin frowned, wondering why Arthur was so defensive when he recalled the comment he made. If he thought two people were dating and they said they were having a long conversation… oh. He felt the tips of his ears turn pink, and he tried to distract himself from the thought. "Sit!" Morgana giggled. "I want to hear more about your boyfriend!"

"Not my boyfriend," Arthur grumbled so only Merlin could hear. He sulkily walked to the table with Merlin behind him. Uther shook his head and sat down at the head of the table with Morgana on his left and Arthur on his right.

"I have prepared a special dish for the occasion," Uther stated. "Merlin, I hope you like it."

"T-thank you, sir," Merlin flushed, unsure of how to respond to the intimidating man.

"Call me Uther."

"U-Uther."

"Father you're scaring him," Morgana scowled at him before turning to Merlin with an amused grin. "So Merlin, how long have you been dating my brother?"

Arthur and Merlin glanced at each other. Both knew they had no chance of convincing Uther that he was wrong, and Merlin didn't want to start an argument by denying their relationship. What would be a believable time for them to start their relationship? "Around two years maybe," Merlin lied. "It was around the time he stopped hanging out with his ex-friends."

Uther frowned at the response. "You two have been dating for two years and didn't think to tell your family?"

"Because you're so supportive of gay rights," Morgana rolled her eyes. "Honestly father, you constantly say homophobic things around the house!"

"That was before I knew my son was one!"

"Just because your son is gay doesn't mean it's suddenly okay! Even if he wasn't gay, you should still be supportive!"

"Well I am now!"

"Yeah, why are you supportive now?" Arthur cut in, staring at his father in confusion.

Uther crossed his arms, glaring at Morgana as though she were to blame for Arthur's comment. Instead of shrinking back from it, Morgana simply smirked at him. Uther sighed and turned to Arthur. "I made a promise to your mother before she died that I would always be there for you and support you. I don't intend on breaking that promise. Besides I find Merlin more suitable for you than any of the other women you've dated."

"Really?" Merlin blinked. "I've met his ex-girlfriends, and they all seem lovely."

"You met my ex-girlfriends!" Arthur exclaimed. "All of them?"

"A lot of them… they cornered me in the hallway today and told me how cute we are," Merlin blushed at the memory.

"Even Morgause?" Arthur and Morgana exclaimed at the same time.

Merlin frowned, "Who's Morgause?"

"Looks like Morgana but with blonde hair and an evil smile?" Arthur attempted to describe her.

"Evil…?"

"I don't think so," Merlin shook his head, and Arthur let out a sigh of relief. "Should I be worried about her?"

Arthur shook his head. "I don't think so… she's had it out for me ever since we broke up. I should be more worried than you."

"Back to the topic at hand," Uther abruptly interrupted before turning to Merlin. "You two have been dating for two years?"

"Yes," Merlin lied, fiddling with his hands under the table.

Uther nodded, seeming to think it over. "That is much longer than the average length of a high school relationship. You two must be very serious about each other. All right. I've decided Merlin shall be included in our Sunday brunches."

"What?" Arthur gawked at his father. "Father, you can't be serious! You said those are for strictly family only!"

"Merlin's practically family."

"You don't even know his last name!"

"Arthur, I am trying to be supportive!" Uther scowled at his son before turning to Merlin. "Merlin, are you religious?"

"Um… not particularly."

"I see. Well the Catholic religion has been cruel to your people—"

"My people?"

"But if you would like to go to church with us as well, you may. Would you?" Uther stated, and Merlin once again felt this was not a question but a demand.

"U-um…" He turned to Arthur for help, but the blond was too busy giving Morgana a 'help us' look. Merlin's eyes drifted to Morgana, who was smirking at the two boys' misfortune. She shrugged, feigning helplessness against her father's will, and Merlin instantly understood she wanted them to suffer through church and Sunday brunch if she had to as well.

"It's settled then!" Uther clapped his hands together, unaware of the drama he had just caused. "Merlin will join our family events!"

Morgana grinned evilly at the crestfallen expressions on Arthur and Merlin.

 _This is going to be fun_ , she thought.


	5. Chapter 5

Merlin sighed when he walked into homeroom. Yesterday had been a whirlwind of drama and outright craziness. First the newspaper published an article about him dating Arthur, then he had that fight with Will, Arthur's friends insist that he's their friend now, and he had dinner at the Pendragon's. He just hoped today would be calm and normal, but he highly doubted it. He made his way to his desk and was relieved that Gwen was already sitting in her spot. "Merlin!" She smiled happily. "How did dinner go?"

"Awful."

Gwen gave him a sympathetic look. "Don't worry. Mr. Pendragon will like you eventually. Everyone does!"

"He does like me!" Merlin exclaimed. "That's the problem! He's invited me to church and Sunday brunch every week!"

"That's wonderful!" Gwen grinned. "Why are you upset about that? You're becoming one of the family!"

He let his head fall onto the desk with a loud "bang." Gwen blinked and stared down at her strange best friend. "We're not dating!" Merlin grumbled, his head still planted firmly on the desk. "We never have been! And we never will!"

Gwen sighed, "You're still keeping that up, aren't you?"

"I'm not keeping anything up!" Merlin lifted his head up and glared at her. "We aren't dating!"

Judging by Gwen's expression, she didn't believe him at all. Merlin sighed and rubbed his aching forehead. There was going to be a red mark there all day due to his little stunt with the desk. Still, he just wanted people to see that he wasn't dating Arthur! He was about to make his case again when Gwen spoke up, "Oh, look who's here!"

Merlin turned around to see Arthur walk into homeroom. Instead of going to Merlin, like the entire class expected, he made his way towards his own desk, which was on the opposite side of the room. It's where the majority of his friends also sat, but the class figured the two groups would merge into one considering the two of them were "dating." Soon after Arthur walked in the rest of his friends followed and appeared confused at Arthur's choice of seating.

Merlin quickly looked away from the scene and back at Gwen. "Can we go back to what I was saying? About how we're not dating?"

"Do you want to talk to him?" Gwen practically ignored him.

"No!"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Merlin, you're so stubborn sometimes."

Merlin sighed. He wasn't getting anywhere with her. "Speaking of stubborn… have you talked to Will?" Merlin asked almost shyly.

"I have," she nodded, biting her bottom lip. Whenever she did that, it meant she didn't have good news. "He's still adjusting."

"Great," he grumbled under his breath. "Just great."

"He'll come around, Merlin."

"I know," he tiredly sighed. "It's just… I need him more than ever right now, and he's not here. It hurts."

Gwen smiled softly, softly grasping his hand in hers. "He'll get over it," she repeated in a firm voice. Merlin smiled and nodded his head. Unable to help it, he stole a quick glance at Arthur, who was with his friends. In that exact moment, Arthur had apparently chosen to look at Merlin, and their eyes met. Instead of instantly looking away, Arthur's glanced at Gwen's hand over Merlin's and met his eyes with a concerned expression.

Somehow Merlin managed to interpret it. He smiled softly and nodded his head, signaling that everything was all right. Arthur stiffly nodded back and turned to his friends, laughing at something they said. Merlin knew Arthur was going to ask about it later.

That's when he shook his head, wondering what just happened. When did he learn how to read Arthur so well? Was he always able to do that, and he just noticed it now? It seemed Arthur could do the same with him. When had that happened?

Gwen, who saw the entire exchanged, giggled at Merlin's strange expression. Maybe he was finally realizing that he wasn't convincing anyone of not dating Arthur.

***

Merlin practically fell into his seat in lit class. During biology, Gaius asked Arthur to sit next to him so there wouldn't be another sudden seat change in the middle of class like yesterday. Both boys protested, but Gaius only gave them a "you're both idiots, now just do what I tell you" look. Eventually they ended up sitting next to each other, and Arthur even began passing him notes, asking what happened in homeroom.

He informed him that Will was still angry, and Arthur attempted to comfort him. That eventually lead into them teasing each other, and one joke in particular had Arthur laughing so hard that Gaius ordered them to quiet down and to "save it for your dates." That had the entire class snickering, and the two boys blushing.

It didn't help their case of trying to convince everyone that they weren't dating.

"Alright class!" Mr. Kilgharrah said as the bell rang. Everyone immediately rushed into their seats, and their teacher began talking about the different perspectives of reading. Merlin tried paying attention, but he continued zoning out, wondering what he was going to do about the situation with Will and Arthur. What could he do? Their original plan was to just ignore each other, but they couldn't do that since Uther was insistent on bringing Merlin to their family events. Not to mention, both Arthur and Merlin's friends wanted them to spend more time together, so he doubted they could continually come up with excuses to not talk.

They needed to try something else then, and Merlin wasn't sure what.

"So we will be starting our new project," Mr. Kilgharrah interrupted his thoughts. "You have to analyze any form of media from each different perspective and come up with a thesis for it. You can work in partners but only two. When you pick your partner, I'll give you the project sheet with more details."

Merlin frowned as everyone stood up to pick out their project partner. Normally he worked alone on projects, and he didn't mind. It was just awkward when everyone was standing up and looking for someone while he stayed in his seat. He grabbed his agenda book from his backpack and began writing the due date for the project when he saw someone sit next to him from the corner of his eye. He glanced up and frowned when he saw it was Lancelot, who was smiling at him. "Hi?" He frowned.

"Hello Merlin," Lancelot beamed. "Would you do me the honor of being my project partner?"

The formality of the statement almost made it sound like a marriage proposal. "Um… sure?"

"Excellent," Lancelot clapped his hands together.

Merlin frowned. "No offense or anything, but you've never wanted to work with me before. Why now?"

"I informed you yesterday that I would like to get to know you better since you are my best friend's boyfriend," Lancelot said, and Merlin sighed. He figured that's what it was, but he hoped it wouldn't be. He opened his mouth to object, but Lancelot beat him to it, "I know you are going to reject the notion that you are in a relationship with Arthur, but I firmly believe you two are lying."

"Did you grow up watching Shakespeare movies?" Merlin blurted out. "Did your mom read you poetry before you went to bed? Lancelot, you talk like some handsome prince from a far away land ready to sweep someone off their feet."

Lancelot blinked at the sudden proclamation, and Merlin outright blushed. Once again, he wanted to bang his head on a desk. Why did he say that? Why couldn't he stop himself from opening his big mouth? Instead of being offended, Lancelot chuckled. "Both actually. My mother read me Shakespeare before I would go to sleep, and she took me to the live plays if they were close enough to go to. I suppose it's had an effect on my speech."

"It definitely has," he nodded. "Um… so the project?"

"Yes, I have a few ideas I would like to share…"

The rest of class was spent mapping out their project and figuring out who would work on what. Eventually the two of them exchanged numbers just in case they had any questions for each other. When Merlin entered the number into his phone, he couldn't help but blush at the prospect. It was like all of his dreams were coming true, and the only reason was because Lancelot thought he was dating Arthur. He definitely needed to convince the school that he and Arthur were not an item!

How was he going to do that?

"Would you like me to escort you to the cafeteria?" Lancelot asked when the bell rang, signaling lunch was about to start.

Merlin blushed. "S-sure."

***

He should have seen the trap coming. When Lancelot walked him into the cafeteria, he literally steered him towards Arthur's table instead of the one Merlin, Gwen, and Will usually sat at. To make matters worse, Gwen was already sitting amongst the football players. Their friends had set them up! Merlin nearly protested, but he figured it wouldn't do any good. Instead he sighed and made a point to sit next to Gwen instead of Arthur. Lancelot frowned at his choice and ended up sitting next to the blond instead.

Instantly Elyan grinned. "Oh come on," his voice took up a teasing tone. "You're not going to sit next to your boyfriend?"

"Not my boyfriend," Arthur and Merlin said at the same time.

"Sure," Elyan winked, and the rest of the table laughed. Merlin flushed and glanced at Arthur, who simply rolled his eyes at his friends' antics.

"Arthur can I talk to you? In private?" Merlin asked, and Arthur nodded in return. Elyan automatically started making kissing faces, and Leon elbowed him in the side although he was laughing as he did it.

Once they were out of earshot, Gwen turned to her brother, "I thought you were going to get Arthur's sister to help us?"

"I texted her last night," Elyan shrugged. "She said we didn't need her help. The most I could do was to get her to come to our next football game, but I doubt that'll help much. I guess we're on our own."

"Why do we need them to admit it?" Percival suddenly questioned. "They're dating, and they're together in public. That's all we really need them to do right? Not hold back whenever they talk and stuff?"

Leon blinked. "That's a good point."

"I guess that's what Morgana meant," Elyan said thoughtfully.

"I suppose we should just leave the matter alone then and allow the relationship to bloom on it's own," Lancelot nodded.

Gwen blinked at him. "You made that sound quite beautiful."

Lancelot blushed slightly. "You're the second person to bring that to my attention today."

"Was Merlin the first?"

"Yes… how did you—"

"I'm his best friend. Best friends just know things," Gwen grinned at him, and the table instantly noticed how Lancelot blushed in result. Leon snickered, and Elyan smirked at his little sister, who seemed utterly clueless to the affect she was having on the boy.

"Maybe we're going to have a second romance at the table?" Percival whispered to Leon, who laughed in response.

Meanwhile, both Merlin and Arthur stood up and walked away from the table and towards the one Merlin usually sat at. It was empty, and Merlin figured Will must be eating lunch somewhere else. Both sat down, and Merlin sighed. "We need to figure out how to convince them we're not dating."

"I thought we already covered this?" Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we came up with the whole 'let's ignore each other' plan, and it's not working," Merlin retorted. "I don't want people to think we're dating."

Arthur frowned and stared at Merlin's expression. It was like he was trying to analyze his reasoning behind it. Suddenly Arthur's blue eyes went wide and a grin stretched on his lips. "You have a crush on someone," he beamed. "That's why you don't want the school to think we're dating!"

Merlin flushed, and Arthur just laughed. "Shut up," Merlin grumbled, trying to hide his face in his hands.

"That's adorable," Arthur teased.

"Just promise you'll talk to your friends about how we're not dating?" Merlin glared at him.

"I promise," he chuckled. "So who is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Who do you have a crush on?" Arthur leaned in.

Merlin blushed. "I'm not telling you! Only a select group of people are allowed to know!"

"Gwen and Will?"

"Gwen and Will." Merlin stated proudly. "You're not in that group, so you don't get to know."

"Can I guess?"

"I doubt you'll guess right, but go ahead."

"George?"

"No."

"Mike?"

"Who?"

"Me?"

"You wish."

Arthur snorted and continued trying to think. "This is hard," he declared. "You only hang around Will and Gwen, so your crush could be anyone."

"You can rule out the girls," he offered with a cheeky smile.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Oh really?" He replied sarcastically. "I didn't know that. Thanks for informing me!"

"You're welcome!" Merlin beamed happily.

Arthur smiled. "You want to know what I just realized?"

"We probably look like a couple because we're sitting alone and smiling at each other like idiots?"

"Yes actually. Want to go back to the table?"

"Yes please."

Together the two of them walked back to their table, where their friends were waiting for them with grins. The moment they sat down they received multiple jokes in their expense about how they definitely weren't dating and how they didn't act like a couple at all. It was all sarcastic, and the two boys didn't bother trying to deny it. Instead they just rolled their eyes and started teasing their friends back. Merlin knew Arthur would talk to his friends later and that hopefully they would believe him.


	6. Chapter 6

Arthur sighed as he finally made it back to his house. The past two days have been all types of weird. First off, how could the entire school think he was dating Merlin? He was a clumsy idiot! Arthur had always dated women of grace and dignity. Well, mostly. There were some exceptions, but they were still all women! Not to mention, everyone seemed okay with it! He figured if he ever dated a boy, everyone would hate him for it. Instead everyone is supportive! Too supportive actually… it made him feel guilty for thinking his friends would hate him in the first place.

Not that he was gay. He just wasn't straight.

"Arthur!"

He nearly groaned when he saw Morgana spring up from the couch she was sitting on. She rushed to him, and he wondered what his half sister could possibly want now. "What?" he groaned.

She raised an eyebrow, somehow making it look elegant. "Bad day?"

"Great day actually. That's the stressful part."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Please!"

The two of them sat down on the overly fancy couch. Both secretly agreed in the past that while the furniture looked fancy and impressive, it felt terribly uncomfortable. Of course, they would never tell Uther that, and they eventually adjusted to the stiffness of their home. "So what happened?" She asked, though the amusement in her expression revealed she wasn't sympathetic to him at all.

"Everyone's been so accepting," he sighed, rubbing his head. "It makes me feel guilty that I doubted them in the first place."

"At least now you can stop worrying about whether or not they'll accept you," Morgana shrugged. "Face it, the article took the stress of coming out away from you. At least be happy about that."

"But they think I'm dating Merlin!"

"That's mostly your fault though."

Arthur's mouth dropped. "My fault?!"

"You act like a couple," she shrugged. "Ridiculously so, actually. If you hadn't dating other girls at the time and if I didn't know you as well as I did, I would have believed that you were dating Merlin for two years."

Arthur sighed. "You noticed that too?"

"It was a terrible lie. Two years? You were dating girls then. You're lucky Father didn't notice the lie."

"He's never noticed my dating life before though," he pointed out. He sighed, leaning back on the couch.

Morgana smiled softly. "Something good did come out of all this though."

"Oh yeah? What?"

"Merlin." She stated. "This article has brought you two together, and you seem to get along really well with him. Beforehand, all you could talk about was how much he annoyed you."

Arthur opened his mouth to argue but swiftly closed it, knowing it was no use to lie to Morgana. She did bring up a good point. While he'd never outright admit it, Merlin did become a good friend in the past two days. Compared to how they once were, the article really did an amazing job at bringing them together. Perhaps the article wasn't so bad after all. Since he didn't want to admit to Morgana that she was right, he decided to change the subject, "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Morgana immediately allowed the topic change. "Can you talk to Father about having me transfer to your school?" She pleaded. "I am so sick of going to private school!"

"You go to an all girls school though?"

"So?"

"You're a lesbian," Arthur lowered his voice to a whisper. "Isn't that a good thing?"

Morgana snorted. "Please. It's a private school! These girls are so straight and so goody two schools that I might barf! At least in a public school some girls break the rules!"

"And you want me to talk to Father about it why?"

"Because Father's been so tolerating of you lately," Morgana innocently smiled. "You brought home your boyfriend of two years to dinner. I think he'll actually listen if you talk to him."

Arthur frowned. "Why don't you just come out to him? He's been so accepting of my situation that he'll have to be accepting of yours!"

"He's only accepting of your situation because your mother made him promise on her death bed that he would be," she sighed, running a hand through her curly black hair. "My mother didn't force him to make the same promises. At least, I don't think she did. Our situations are different, and I'm scared he might not be as accepting with me. You're not the bastard of the house, Arthur."

Arthur flinched at the last statement. "You're not…" he began, but Morgana gave him a look. He sighed, "I'll talk to him."

Morgana smiled brightly. "Thanks."

"No problem," he forced a smile. "I'm going to head up to my room. If you have another crisis, please call someone else!"

Morgana laughed, and Arthur stood up from the couch, stretching his legs as he did. As he began walking up the marble staircase to his room, he thought back to the conversation with his sister and sighed. He truly did want her to be happy, and he doubted she would find it in the school she was in. Maybe it would be better if she transferred. Hopefully his father would see that.

Suddenly he felt confined by the walls of the house. It was a suffocating feeling, and he usually texted Lancelot to avoid it. Instantly he pulled out his phone but for some reason, he didn't text Lancelot. He didn't know why, but every instinct told him to talk to Merlin. Merlin knew what he was going through in a way. Merlin would understand.

' _Hey,'_ he messaged,  _'want to hang out? Need someone to talk to right now.'_

He didn't expect Merlin to reply. After all, they were only friends for two days, and the school currently thought they were dating. Heck, Arthur might have ruined Merlin's chance with his crush because of the article. Still, he was pleasantly surprised when Merlin texted back,  _'Sure. Pick me up?'_

Arthur smiled softly.  _'On my way now.'_

***

Merlin ordered a large chocolate ice cream that looked huge compared to Arthur's small vanilla. He also decided to order every single topping that was available and smiled brightly when he started eating it. It was so childish and so cute that Arthur had to laugh. Why didn't he try to become friends with Merlin earlier? Oh right… because he was an ass at the time they met. Arthur frowned at the memories but decided to shrug them off. He came here to escape stress not to relive it. As they started walking around the park, Merlin happily chatted away about how good the ice cream was.

"You have a huge sweet tooth, don't you?" Arthur chuckled.

Merlin pouted. "I enjoy the better things in life," he clarified. "Ice cream being one of them."

"You're so childish."

"Shut up," he stuck his tongue out, only proving Arthur's point. After a moment of silence, Merlin's expression changed. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Arthur sighed and began steering their direction towards one of the park benches. Together they sat down, and Arthur stared at his ice cream. "How did you know you were gay?"

Merlin blinked in surprise and shrugged. "I don't know. I was in elementary school, and there was a really cute boy sitting next to me. I got this huge crush on him, and I realized I didn't like girls."

"That must have been a startling realization."

Merlin smiled softly. "It was… I remember I started crying on the playground, and Will found me. I told him everything, and he told me that it didn't matter. I was still the same Merlin as I was yesterday, and I'll be the same Merlin tomorrow. I went home that day and I told my mom, and she didn't care."

"You came out the same day you found out?" Arthur gaped at him.

Merlin shrugged. "Yeah actually." He smiled. "I don't like keeping secrets. It makes me feel guilty and terrible, so I try not to."

Arthur nodded in understanding.

Merlin frowned. "What made you ask that?"

Arthur bit his lip and stared at Merlin for a long time. "The article took away my chance at coming out," he confessed, and Merlin's eyes went wide. "I didn't get to do it on my own terms except to my sister. I realized there's still one person who thinks I'm straight, so I might as well take the opportunity and come out. Merlin, I like guys and girls."

Merlin's mouth dropped. "You do?" He exclaimed. "Is that why the article made you so nervous? Then so happy?"

"Yep."

"I… wow. That's… welcome, I guess." Merlin stammered, unsure of what to say.

Arthur burst out laughing. "Welcome?" he laughed. "Welcome to what?"

Merlin flushed. "I don't know!" He threw up his hands in exaggeration, careful not to spill his ice cream though. "The gay club I guess!"

"But I'm not gay!"

"The LGBT community then!" He exclaimed. "Welcome! We make bracelets and straight people uncomfortable! There!"

"You're ridiculous," he chuckled.

Merlin flushed. "Shut up," he grumbled, taking a bit from his ice cream before glancing at Arthur curiously. "When did you figure that out?"

"I noticed a cute boy," he shrugged. "Same thing as you I guess, but I was confused. I was dating a girl named Sophia at the time, and I still thought she was attractive. I grew up in a very sheltered home, and my friends were just as sheltered as me. We just thought there was gay and straight, and that was it. I didn't know what it meant, and I was scared. My friends at the time were very openly homophobic, and that's why I started distancing myself from them. I didn't want them to find out and hate me. I wouldn't have been able to take it."

Merlin nodded in understanding. "And that's why you became nicer to people?" He asked.

Arthur nodded. "I never felt out of place in my life until then. I realized if that's how other people feel, and if I'm making them feel more out of place… I must have really been an asshole then. I think it was you that really made me change my mind though."

Merlin blinked. "Me?"

"I was debating whether or not to keep my friends," he confessed. "I figured if I still liked girls, I could hide the part of me that liked guys too. I could keep living that lie, and I would be fine. Then I saw my friends picking on someone again, and I was about to walk up to them and join them. But you saw me, and you glared at me, and you asked if those were the types of people that I really wanted to be friends with… if that was the type of person that I wanted to be. The way you looked at me really startled me, and I remember thinking that I didn't want to be like that. I didn't want people to feel out of place like I did. I didn't want people to hide themselves because of assholes like me.

I went up to my friends, and I told them to stop. I told them it wasn't funny anymore. I helped the guy they were picking on up. I took him outside, and I told him I was sorry. The next day I broke up with Sophia, and I told my friends that I wasn't going to hang around them anymore. I got new friends. I wasn't sure if they would accept me for being bisexual, but I knew they were still kind people. I made sure to surround myself with kind people because I wanted to be a kind person. You changed me that day."

Merlin stared at Arthur with wide eyes. He seemed speechless, and he eventually started blushing at the kind words Arthur gave him. "I didn't know," he whispered.

"I know," Arthur shrugged. "I still wasn't the nicest person to you but… but I wasn't cruel anymore either. At least, I don't think I was. I argued with you because it was kind of fun, and I think you thought the same thing. It was out of habit."

Merlin nodded. "I did notice there was a change in our fights," he confessed. "I never really looked into it though."

Arthur smiled. "Well now you know why."

Merlin nodded and glanced at Arthur. "Thank you for telling me that."

"You're welcome. Thanks for listening."

Merlin smiled and leaned back on the bench. "You know," he commented, "screw the article. I like this. I like hanging out with you instead of fighting. Let's just ignore what people say about it."

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "What about your crush?"

"I don't think he'll change his mind about the article either way," he shrugged. "I just have to convince him."

Arthur smirked. "I'll help you out with him then."

"Really?" Merlin grinned.

"Yeah," Arthur shrugged. "Might as well repay you for all the shit I've given you. I'll help you out with your crush."

"Thanks, Arthur."

"Do I get to know the lucky guy's name?"

"Nope."

"Dammit."


	7. Chapter 7

After Arthur and Merlin declared they would stop caring what people thought of them, everything suddenly became easier. Instead of watching their every action, Arthur and Merlin acted without care. It allowed their friendship to blossom, and over the next two weeks, they became extremely close. It also helped that almost every day they went to the park to hang out. While they still denied the accusations that they were dating, they didn't bother trying to act like they weren't.

It was nice.

Along the way, Merlin also became much closer to Arthur's group of friends. They were all extremely nice, although very goofy, and soon it became their group of friends instead of Arthur's. The same went for Gwen, who blended into the new group exceedingly well.

Right now, the entire group was sitting at lunch together, and they were bragging about the upcoming football game. "You're going to come, aren't you?" Percival asked Gwen and Merlin.

Gwen smirked. "Of course we are! Merlin has always insisted on going to every single game."

Arthur raised his eyebrows and turned to the boy sitting next to him. "You do?"

Merlin flushed and curtly nodded his head. "Y-yeah…"

The blond laughed and threw his arm around Merlin. "Isn't that just adorable?"

"Oh shut up you prat!" Merlin pouted at him, mockingly glaring at the muscular boy.

Arthur just snickered, and the table laughed at the silliness and cuteness of the scenario. At this point, they were used to Arthur and Merlin's banter and how it contributed to their flirting. "Anyway," for once, Arthur didn't respond to the insult, "Morgana's actually going to the game."

"She is?"

"I know. It's suspicious," he declared. "She never goes to any of my games."

The group of friends at the table glanced at each other. A couple weeks ago, they had called Morgana to ask for her help in making Arthur and Merlin admit they were dating. She replied claiming they didn't need her help, but she would be willing to go to the football game just in case.

Merlin, who didn't know any of this, shrugged. "Maybe she's trying to be supportive after everything that's happened?"

Arthur paused to consider it. "Maybe… either way, you should try to meet up with her during the game. She's been dying to hang out with you."

"But she does?"

"Sunday brunches don't count, Merlin."

"How do they not count?"

"Because my father's there! She censors herself a great deal around him."

"She does?" Merlin exclaimed. "But she's so blunt around him!"

Arthur shrugged. "Yeah, she can be worse than that."

"Sunday brunches?" Percival cut in, and the two turned to the table, who all appeared curious.

Merlin blushed. "Uther is forcing me to go to their family events… like church and Sunday brunch."

Elyan snorted. "And how are those going?"

"Extremely uncomfortable, thanks."

"How so?" Lancelot innocently asked.

Merlin flushed. "He once asked me why my people were so colorful."

Arthur shuddered at the memory. "Morgana had a field day with that comment."

Gwen's mouth dropped open, and she burst out laughing. If it wasn't for Lancelot quickly steadying her, she might have fallen off the chair. As she leaned into Lancelot, the boy blushed heavily, but no one seemed to notice. "You're people?" She gasped for air.

Merlin nodded, throwing his hands up as he exclaimed, "Yes, Gwen, my people! The gays of the world are all mine!"

"What about the bisexuals?" Arthur asked curiously.

Merlin shrugged. "We can split them. You can take the girls, and I'll take the guys."

"But isn't the point of being bisexual that we like both—"

"I don't have time for your contradictions, Arthur! I have a whole network of gays to run!"

The rest of lunch was spent laughing at the silliness of Uther Pendragon's comments and dealing with Merlin's sarcasm. By the time the bell rang, the group was actually sad they had to part. Like every day, the boys and Gwen walked ahead as Arthur and Merlin stayed behind to talk.

"So you've gone to every football game?" Arthur questioned, smirking a bit as Merlin flushed.

"Y-yeah…" he sighed.

"I guess that narrows down who your crush is!" Arthur beamed. "Are you sure it's not me?"

"I'm pretty sure it's not you," Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Percival? He's big and muscular. I can see you liking him."

"Nope," he shook his head.

"Greg?"

"Are you just going to list the entire football team?" Merlin asked, amused. "I could just say no to all of them to throw you off."

"But I'm sure once I say the name, you'll start blushing and acting obvious about it," Arthur grinned.

Merlin blushed for what seemed to be the fifth time that day. "Dang it," he pouted. Before Arthur could make another comment, Merlin felt something slam into his body, forcing him back a few steps. He looked up to see Will glaring at him as he attempted to walk past Merlin.

He didn't get a chance. Instead Arthur grabbed Will by his collar and whirled him around. Will let out a shout in protest, causing the boys ahead to turn around. "Apologize," Arthur growled.

Will glared at him. "I didn't do anything!"

"You know damn well what you did! Now apologize to Merlin!"

"I'm not apologizing to your boyfriend!" Will spat out.

Arthur's grip on his shirt tightened, and he was about to shout at the boy. Merlin quickly intervened by grabbing Arthur's arm and tugging it. "Arthur," he pleaded. "Stop it!"

Arthur was about to argue, but once he saw Merlin's wide eyed, innocent look, he sighed and dropped Will, who quickly dashed away from the scene with one lingering glare on Merlin. Arthur glared back before turning back to Merlin. "You okay?" he asked.

Merlin nodded. "Fine."

"He's starting to piss me off," he mumbled.

"Weren't you the one who told me he'd get over it?"

Arthur snorted, smiling slightly. "Yeah I guess I did."

"Stick to that mentality then. I'd rather have one of us hope he'll get over it than neither."

Smiling softly, Arthur took one long look at Merlin. "You want to get ice cream after school?"

Merlin smiled back. "Yes please."

"Are you two going to kiss now?"

Both boys whipped around to see their friends staring at them with amusement.

Leon jokingly glared at Elyan, who made the comment. "You ruined the moment!"

"That truly was romantic," Lancelot beamed. "It was like gazing into the scene of a classic Shakespearean movie."

Merlin groaned. "Lancelot, no one talks like that!"

Elyan snorted. "Don't worry Merlin. You'll get used to it."


	8. Chapter 8

Merlin was sitting in his usual spot on the bleachers. He stared at the field with a light blush on his face and tired to make it go away. Before the article came out, he always wondered if his crush would notice how Merlin watched him at every game and cheered for only him. Now he didn't bother worrying because his crush would think he was cheering for his "boyfriend" which was both a relief and a problem.

He sighed, wondering what he should do about the situation when Gwen nudged him. Blinking, he turned to her and saw she was smirking. "What?" he asked innocently.

Gwen shook her head. "You're brilliant, you know."

"I am?"

"Yes! You made up having a crush on someone else as an excuse to talk about Arthur and see his games! It's so cute! Manipulative… but adorable," Gwen grinned.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Speaking of that," he blushed, "don't tell Arthur about that whole thing. He'll probably tease me nonstop if he found out."

He had long since given up on convincing Gwen that they weren't dating, so he didn't bother anymore. Now he just had to make sure she didn't accidentally reveal too much personal information to Arthur. After all, she thought it was all a lie, so in her opinion, what harm could it do?

Gwen grinned. "I'll keep your secret!"

"Merlin! Merlin over here!"

Merlin's head whipped towards the voice and he stood up, waving at the person who called his name. Gwen frowned and stood up as well only to gape. Morgana was slowly making her way towards them, and she was brightly waving at the two of them. "Is that Morgana?" her mouth dropped.

Merlin raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"She's beautiful!" Gwen exclaimed before blushing heavily. "I excepted a really muscly blonde girl…"

Before she could finish that comment, Morgana was a few feet away from them. She had a bright grin on her face as she hugged Merlin. "Hey Merlin!"

Once the hug broke, Morgana turned to Gwen, who couldn't fight the blush from rising on her cheeks again. "Hi," she held out her pale hand. "I'm Morgana."

"G-Gwen," she shyly smiled before taking the girl's hand. Morgana's grin suddenly widened, and Merlin rolled his eyes when he realized he was going to be the third wheel. As the three of them sat down, Merlin's eyes once again became fixated on the field as Morgana and Gwen started talking.

The team all came out, and Merlin grinned at the sight of them. The aspect of watching the game seemed much more exciting now that he knew half of the team instead of just watching for his crush. As the game kicked off, Merlin instantly started cheering. Before, only one name would go through his lips as he cheered but now multiple names were spewing out. For some reason, "Arthur" was the most common one. Then again, the blond was the most talented on the team, so Merlin had more reason to cheer.

When the game ended with their team as the victor, Merlin, Morgana, and Gwen rushed onto the football field. The team, who was all sweaty and still had the majority of their equipment on, smiled when they came into view. Well one did more than smile. The moment Merlin came into view, a giant grin broke out on Arthur's face and he literally rushed to meet Merlin halfway.

The black haired boy didn't even react when his body was literally lifted into the air and twirled around in a giant hug. "We did it!" Arthur shouted.

Merlin burst out laughing and hugged him back just as Arthur put him back on the field. "You did it!"

Morgana snorted and turned to the rest of the players. "And you guys said you needed my help?"

Gwen immediately started laughing and leaned towards Morgana, even going as far as softly grasping her arm for support. Morgana beamed and posisted her body to support the giggling girl. Lancelot, who noticed their closeness, frowned and looked away. The rest of the team didn't notice their friend's expression and just chuckled at Morgana's words.

Elyan grinned. "Well…"

"Not anymore, obviously," Leon shrugged.

"They're doing pretty fine on their own," Percival nodded in agreement.

Morgana and Gwen smirked just as Merlin and Arthur joined the circle they were making. Clearly they were too busy teasing each other to notice their friends were actually in the middle of discussing something. Arthur raised an eyebrow at Morgana, who was still practically holding Gwen, and she just smiled at him in return. "What?" she asked innocently.

Gwen must have noticed how their position looked, and she blushed; however, she didn't bother stepping away from the other girl. Merlin rolled his eyes at her, and Gwen childishly stuck her tongue out. "Alright!" Arthur clapped his hands together. "The usual?"

"Definitely!"

"I'm starving!"

"The what?" Merlin asked.

Leon grinned, "After every game we win, we go back to Lancelot's house and order pizza. I'm assuming the extra three are invited?"

Arthur smirked. "Morgana and Gwen are."

"Wow, thanks Arthur," Merlin replied sarcastically. "I'm really feeling the love here."

"Well that was the goal of not inviting you."

Merlin snorted. "You have a great way of showing affection."

Arthur just beamed. "Thanks Merlin!"

"Yeah I can definitely see the totally platonic relationship here," Morgana butted in, raising an eyebrow at her brother. "Definitely no sign of anything romantic here. Just bros being bros, right?"

Arthur crinkled his nose in disgust. "Bros being bros?"

"Yep. You guys have definitely got the 'no homo' thing down," Morgana grinned jokingly.

Merlin titled his head to the side. "But I'm gay?"

"And I'm bi…"

"I think your joke would be a lot funnier if they were trying to say they were straight as well as not in love," Gwen placed her hand on Morgana's shoulder.

Morgana chuckled. "Well I tired."

"Shall we go to my house?" Lancelot cut in.

"Yeah definitely," the rest of the group agreed.

***

They ended up piling into Lancelot's basement with a couple boxes of pizza in the center of their circle. They were all eating happily before they got on the topic of dating. Each individual in the group was going through their bests and worsts. Some of them were actually pretty funny while others were downright terrifying. When it was Lancelot's turn, he blushed heavily. "I have actually never had the experience of a relationship. I suppose I have just been waiting for the right one."

The group jokingly "awwed" at his statement, and Merlin's eyes softened. "That's so sweet though," he tried defending him.

Lancelot grinned at him. "Thank you, Merlin."

He flushed in response. "You're welcome."

Gwen noticed this and slightly frowned but didn't say anything. Arthur nudged him with his shoulder. "What about you?" He asked curiously. "Best and worst?"

"Oh that's easy," Merlin grabbed another slice of pizza before continuing. "I've only really had one relationship in the past, and it was kind of weird."

Gwen knew what was coming. "Kind of weird?" She asked incredulously. "Merlin, it was downright illegal!"

The group instantly leaned in, interested to hear what Merlin had to say. He flushed and sighed, "It was three years ago, and I was really frustrated with the lack of gay men at our school. I wanted to have a relationship, but there weren't many options, so I went online. I found this one guy who lived nearby, and we ended up going out. His name was Mordred, and he was a really amazing boyfriend!"

Arthur frowned and clenched his fists.

Percival blinked, "How is that bad?"

"He was kind of twenty three years old."

"What?!" Arthur bellowed. "And this was three years ago?"

Merlin blushed. "Yep."

"Your first boyfriend was a pedophile?!"

"Not really…"

"Yes really!" Arthur's voice was still raised. "And do you know how dangerous it is to go online to find a boyfriend!"

"Oh calm down Arthur," Elyan rolled his eyes. "This was years ago."

Percival frowned. "I don't know… that's pretty bad."

Merlin flushed. "It's not like he was a bad boyfriend…"

Morgana smirked. "Did you fuck him?"

Arthur blushed heavily. "Morgana!"

"Oh no."

"Thank goodness," Arthur grumbled.

"He fucked me," Merlin beamed proudly, and the group just stared at him for a moment. Arthur looked like he was about to have a heart attack, and Morgana seemed like she was trying to stop herself from laughing. Gwen immediately started giggling, and the rest of the boys looked like they didn't know how to react.

"We are definitely talking about this later," Arthur mumbled, and Merlin just pouted.

"It's not like you're a virgin," he pointed out.

"Yes but I've had normal, legal relationships!"

"Not really normal," Morgana cut in.

Arthur looked like he was about to protest but thought better of it. Instead he agreed, "Okay one weird one, but that was it!"

"What weird one?" Gwen asked curiously.

Arthur flushed. "Well Morgana and I don't have a normal, average family…"

"That's an understatement," Morgana nodded.

"When I was a baby, my mother died giving birth to me," Arthur explained. "My father was in mourning, and he really needed comfort. Morgana's sort of dad was out at war, so her mom needed comfort. They kind of… comforted each other, and that resulted in Morgana."

Morgana nodded, "But my mom already had a kid with my dad. She was named Morgause. My dad ended up dying in the war, and my mom was so distraught that she ended up giving me to Uther when I was a little kid. I guess she felt guilty about cheating on my dad before he died, and I was a constant reminder of it. Either way, Arthur and I ended up being raised together."

"I ended up accidentally dating Morgause as a result," Arthur continued the story. "I didn't know she was Morgana's half-sister until Uther found out and told Morgana and me. Morgana ended up meeting her, and now they're really close."

"We really bonded right away," Morgana smiled proudly.

"Morgause and I aren't related by blood at all, but it still freaked me out that I was dating my sister's sister, so I broke things off with her," Arthur shuddered at the memory of their relationship. He still felt a little disgusted that he basically had a semi-incestuous relationship even though there was no incest involved.

"She hates him now," Morgana snickered.

"I think she's plotting vengeance against me as we speak," Arthur commented.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "So you dated your sister's sister, but I can't date a twenty three year old?"

"It's illegal, Merlin!"

"It was fun."

"That's disgusting!"

"Some of the things he did to me? Oh yeah, definitely disgusting," Merlin lecherously grinned, knowing full well the type of reaction he was going to receive. Still, it was fun teasing Arthur like that.

Arthur flushed, "M-Merlin!"

"Yes?" He grinned cheekily.

"We are going to find this Mordred, and I am going to have a talk with him!"

"A talk?"

"Yes!"

"We're not talking to Mordred. Besides, we broke up!"

"Thank God you did!"

"You're overreacting."

"I AM NOT OVERREACTING!"

"You know, maybe—"

Gwen rolled her eyes as they started fighting and whispered to Morgana, "This is going to go on for a while."

Morgana smirked. "I can tell. They're quite loud."

"They fight a lot," she agreed.

Morgana tilted her head to the side, staring at Gwen flirtatiously. "We should all go to the mall together tomorrow. I need some new clothes, and I think those two could use a relaxing date."

Of course, Morgana knew they weren't actually dating, but she figured they would start soon enough. Might as well give them a head start. Gwen blushed and nodded, "Definitely! What time should we meet?"

"Let me text you the details. What's your phone number?"

"THERE IS NO WAY MORDRED WOULD BE MORE ROMANTIC THAN ME!"

Morgana rolled her eyes, "Arthur anyone is more romantic than you."

Merlin grinned. "Told you!"

That comment, of course, started another shouting match between them, and Gwen just sighed. "Men."

Morgana beamed. "I know, right?"


	9. Chapter 9

It took forever for Gwen to pick out an outfit, which was unusual considering she tended to just throw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Then again, she rarely acted so flustered in front of someone before. Years ago, Gwen used to be very timid and shy, but she eventually grew out of it and became much more confident in herself. Yet the way Gwen acted around Morgana was almost as if she never changed. It was strange to see, and Merlin wondered what it meant for Gwen.

When they finally arrived at the mall, Merlin figured he might as well ask before they met up with Arthur and Morgana. "So," he began, smiling, "what was up with you and Morgana?"

Gwen instantly flushed. "W-what do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

She opened her mouth to protest but must have known it wouldn't have achieved anything. She sighed and admitted, "I don't know. I've never been attracted to another woman before. Then again, I've never met someone as beautiful as her. I guess I might be bi then? I'm not sure… But I know I'd like to be with her if I could. I've only just met her, but I feel something there, you know?"

"I know," Merlin agreed. In truth, Merlin actually felt that twice in his life. Once with his first boyfriend Mordred and the second with—

"Merlin!" Morgana exclaimed, and the two turned their heads to see the Pendragon siblings walking towards them. Gwen instantly beamed at the dark haired girl, and Merlin rolled his eyes. Was that how he acted around his crush? He hoped not otherwise he was sure everyone would know.

"Hello," Gwen tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, smiling at Morgana.

"Hi," Morgana flirtatiously greeted her. She glanced at Arthur, who was just lazily smiling at Merlin, and harshly elbowed him in the chest.

"Ow!" Arthur glared at her before his eyes went wide. "Oh yeah! Right… um, Merlin, want to go to a totally masculine store that the girls definitely wouldn't want to go to—"

Morgana flushed, "Oh my God Arthur!"  
"Forcing us to split up and not really meet up until later?" Arthur finished with a smirk.

Merlin burst out laughing as Morgana started grumbling under her breath about "what an ass" and "did you really have to be so obvious?" Merlin grinned, "Sure, let's go to a totally masculine store. How about Victoria's Secret? Nothing's more manly than trying on a couple thongs."

Morgana snorted in amusement while Arthur just blushed, the image of Merlin in a thong coming in his head. He shook his head, immediately banishing the thought, and smirked. "Whatever, let's just go."

Merlin nodded and turned to Gwen, smiling at her, "Have fun!"

Gwen blushed, "You too."

"Not too much fun," Morgana interjected, causing Merlin to laugh and Arthur to blush.

Soon it was just Arthur and Merlin walking around, and once they were completely alone, Arthur turned to him and asked, "Really? Victoria's Secret?"

"Why not?" Merlin shrugged, an almost evil grin coming to his lips. "It was the first store Mordred took me to."

"Shut up, Merlin."

"But don't you want to hear about the good times we had?"

"No."

"There was a seven for $27 sale."

"Please don't—"

"I still own them too," Merlin smiled proudly.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, "Safe keeping for your crush?"

That wiped the smirk off of Merlin's face. It was replaced with a heavy blush and him stumbling over his own feet. "N-no," he stuttered. "Well maybe… I don't know."

"You really should just tell me who it is."

Merlin shook his head. "No way! There are only two people in the universe who know, and I would like to keep it that way!"

"Don't you want to expand that to three people?" Arthur suggested, "I mean, it must get so tiring with only Will and Gwen knowing. Maybe you should add me to the list?"

At the mention of Will, Merlin's face grew solemn, and Arthur inwardly cursed himself. Why would he bring up such a sensitive topic? He knew what type of reaction that would get out of Merlin! "I'm sorry," he immediately apologized. "I didn't—"

"It's not your fault," Merlin reassured him. "I just… I want to talk to him, but he refuses to listen. It's really frustrating."

Arthur nodded in agreement. "I can try talking to him if you want?" He offered, "I'm the asshole boyfriend who took you away from him, so I might as well try to straighten things out."

Merlin's eyes widened. "You'd do that?"

"Yeah."

A huge grin broke out on Merlin's lips. "Thanks!"

Arthur blushed, wanting to lean down and kiss the boy, but he resisted the urge. He knew Merlin had a crush on someone else, and it definitely wasn't him. At least, for now it wasn't. Arthur instead smiled back, "No problem."

Merlin glanced around, "Should we try to find Morgana and Gwen now that we've given them their alone time?"

"No, if we find them, we might see something that we really don't want to see."

Merlin tilted his head back and burst out laughing.

***

"That's so cute!" Gwen squealed. "Definitely buy it!"

Morgana bit back a smile and nodded, "Thanks!"

She was currently trying on a sundress in the changing room. Gwen insisted on coming with and evaluating the dress, which she thought looked amazing on Morgana. "You're definitely going to be the best looking one at church," Gwen complimented, knowing fully well what the dress was for. Merlin often complained to her about how Uther forced him to go to Sunday church and brunch with his family, and Morgana apparently always wore cute dresses to the occasions.

"I usually am," Morgana smirked, striking a model's pose causing both girls to start giggling.

"Morgana? Is that you?"

Gwen frowned when a blonde girl came out of the dressing room wearing a very nice red dress. Her hair was long and curly like Morgana's, and her skin was much tanner. She looked gorgeous, and Gwen had to fight the rising jealousy in her chest. "Hey!" Morgana grinned and instantly the two girls embraced.

"It's been a while! You haven't been texting me," the blonde said as the girls pulled apart although they still held on to each other's arms.

"I'm sorry. It's been so busy," Morgana complained. "There's been some drama with Arthur, and I'm trying to convince Father to let me transfer to your school."

The blonde grinned, "You are? That'll be amazing! Hopefully your father will let you."

"He's been surprisingly progressive lately, so he might," Morgana smirked before turning to Gwen. "Gwen, this is my sister Morgause. Morgause, this is Gwen."

Morgause grinned, "You got a girlfriend?"

Gwen blushed at the comment and tired to hold in her sigh of relief that this girl was Morgana's sister. "H-hi," Gwen held out her hand.

Morgause shook it and turned to Morgana. "I'm so happy for you!"

Morgana was about to comment that they weren't actually dating, but Morgause continued, "I've been having such a rough couple weeks. You'll never guess what happened."

Morgana tilted her head to the side. "What?"

"You remember how I dated your brother?"

Morgana wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Yes, that was an interesting time."

"Well I decided to get some payback for him dumping me," Morgause spat out the last part. "So I snuck in the school and wrote an article that he was dating Merlin. I'm guessing you two have heard about it? It was everywhere."

Gwen blinked. "Wait, you made that up?"

"Yeah," Morgause casually shrugged. "I did it to get vengeance, but it didn't work! People are supportive of Arthur and Merlin together! Which is good, because they should support gay rights, but it stinks because I thought I'd have a chance at getting him back! Instead I think I gift wrapped him a new relationship!"

Gwen's jaw dropped, and Morgana nodded. "You really did," she commented. At that, Gwen's shocked expression shifted to her.

"They're not actually dating? And you knew?"

Morgana shrugged, "They're practically dating though. I'd give it another month before they actually start going out."

Gwen seemed to struggle to put the words together. "But that means…" she mumbled. "Merlin's crush is real!"

Morgana raised an eyebrow. "Merlin has a crush?"

"Yes, and it's not Arthur!"

Morgause snorted, and Morgana held back a smile. "Don't worry Gwen," she comforted. "I give Merlin a week to get over his silly crush and another two weeks to develop one on Arthur."

Gwen frowned. "Are you sure?"

Morgause nodded, "She's a great manipulator. Kind of like me. If she wants them to date, they'll date."

"And you want them to date?"

"I don't care. I just wanted some payback, and if Merlin's ranting about his crush to Arthur, then Arthur must be going crazy with jealousy. That's payback enough." Morgause grinned happily.

Gwen basically ignored her and kept her focus on Morgana. "We have to make sure they start dating. When two people have such chemistry like that, it's almost a sin for them to not date!"

Morgana smirked, "I couldn't agree with you more."


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A first hand look at Sunday brunch!

Merlin hated going to church and Sunday brunch with Arthur's family. There! He said it! Well, not that it was a secret, but still! Oh yes, he now considered Arthur one of his closest friends, and yes, he adored Morgana like a sister. The problem was with Uther. He would always manage to make the most uncomfortable comments at the table, and it unnerved Merlin to no end. He could tell it had the same affect on Arthur and Morgana although Morgana was the only one who spoke against Uther. That would lead to some sort of fight between them, and Uther would drag Arthur and Merlin into it, and it was just tiring.

Half of the time, those uncomfortable comments stemmed from ignorance of homosexuality. Uther would stupidly ask Merlin questions about the entirety of the gay populace as if he represented all of them! Honestly, who thinks it's okay to ask, "So Merlin, why do your people speak in such a feminine manner?" Morgana had a fit with that one.

The other half of the uncomfortable questions centered on their relationship, and those were even worse! He remembered two weeks ago he was just peacefully sipping some coffee as Arthur was telling him about this great movie they should see that night. When Merlin agreed to go, Uther rudely cut in and asked the boys if they needed condoms. Morgana had a laughing fit with that one.

Now Merlin was sitting at the brunch table in the Pendragon house after another church visit. Uther was making comments about the service and how nice it was while the three teenagers kept quiet. Once Uther finished with his praise of the church, Arthur asked, "That's great Father. You know what caught my attention? How the priest talked about making your own decisions and living life freely."

Uther nodded, "Yes, I would expect you to like that part."

Morgana bit her bottom lip to keep from groaning at that comment. Arthur flushed and took a deep breath before continuing, "It actually reminded me of Morgana and how she is at a school she doesn't like. I think she should transfer to a public school."

Uther raised an eyebrow, "Arthur, do you think it is appropriate to bring up a topic like that during brunch?"

Arthur didn't seem intimidated; "Almost as appropriate as asking if I properly preparing Merlin during dinner."

"WHAT?" Merlin exclaimed, flushing.

Uther blushed at that as well. "I was making sure you weren't hurting the boy!" He snapped. "I was doing research, and I found out it's very different for two men! You could seriously hurt him if you're not preparing him in the proper manner!"

"Oh my God…"

"Still," Arthur cut in, "it was definitely not the right time to have that conversation! So I figured if you can bring up stuff like that, I can bring up how unhappy Morgana is at private school."

"You are unhappy at private school?" he turned to Morgana, who immediately nodded in response. Huh, he supposed he should have expected that. Now that he thought about it, he never saw Morgana with anyone from her school. She appeared to be friendlier with Arthur's friends than anyone at her school.

"I get along much better with Arthur and Merlin's friends than I do with the girls there," Morgana stated, voicing Merlin's inner thoughts. "I'd much rather go to their school, and I don't think it's too much to ask."

 _Clearly you did if you asked Arthur to talk to him about it_ , Merlin thought to himself but he didn't dare speak out loud.

Uther appeared to be thinking about it and eventually he sighed. "Alright… I'll transfer you."

Morgana smirked, and Arthur beamed back at her.

"But!" Uther smiled almost devilishly. "Arthur has to show around one of the new boys coming to our school in a couple of days."

Arthur instantly groaned, "Why?"

"Because you are my son," Uther answered as though it were obvious. "It would be good for the principal's son to show leadership to those who are new. Are we agreed?"

Arthur sighed and nodded, much to Morgana's joy. She immediately beamed and whispered, "Thank you, Arthur."

"No problem," he grumbled. "I still can't believe I have to show around some new kid."

"Maybe it'll be fun," Merlin offered in support.

Arthur shrugged. "Maybe."

After a few more minutes, the Pendragon family (and Merlin) finished their meal. As Uther and Morgana left, Merlin remembered that it was their turn to do the dishes. For some reason, the Pendragon family liked to rotate who would do the chores. Since Uther considered Merlin part of the family for some reason, it meant Merlin was included in this rotation. Luckily, Uther insisted he do the chores with Arthur instead of doing it on his own.

_"It is good practice for when you two will live together after you graduate," Uther chided in._

Merlin blushed when he remembered that particular comment. Without speaking, Merlin began picking up the dishes on the table with Arthur, who was just as silent. Maybe he was remembering the strange comment Uther made as well. They made their way into the kitchen and started their usual routine (Merlin washing, and Arthur drying).

Feeling as though he were suffocating by the silence, Merlin spoke up, "It was nice of you to stand up for Morgana."

Arthur smiled. "Thanks. I knew she wasn't happy at that school, and I think it would be fun if she transferred to my school. It would definitely make things more interesting."

Merlin nodded in agreement, "It's nice you're so close to her." He casually commented.

"Yeah, we've been close since we were children," Arthur smiled softly.

Merlin beamed. "That's nice. You know, when I was growing up, I always wanted a sibling."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Elyan and Gwen were always close growing up, and I really wanted that kind of relationship with a sibling, you know?"

"It's not like that all the time," Arthur warned. "Morgana and I may be really close, but we fought all the time as kids. Some maids quit because they couldn't handle it, and I don't really blame them. We were the devil's children back then."

Merlin snorted. "I can imagine. That hasn't exactly changed, you know."

"Thanks Merlin."

"You're welcome!" He beamed.

Arthur smirked, and the two continued to clean the dishes. When Arthur put the last plate away, he turned around to see Merlin staring at him curiously. Before he could comment, Merlin said, "I think the real reason I wanted a sibling was because that meant my dad would have to come home to my mom. If I got another brother or sister, it meant I'd have a dad."

Arthur's expression softened and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I know the feeling. When Morgana started living with us, I thought I'd have a new mom. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I remember staring at the door sometimes waiting for my new mom to show up, but she never did. I don't remember feeling relieved or abandoned whenever the door didn't open, but I know Morgana did. I used to hold her hand and tell her that if her mom won't come home then she made a big mistake."

"That's cute," Merlin smiled. "Will would tell me the same thing about my dad."

"He was right," Arthur admitted, glad the topic of Will wasn't depressing Merlin like it usually did. Perhaps it was due to the fact they were on another depressing topic. "And besides, now you have a new dad. Mine."

The smile instantly dropped from Merlin's face. "What do you mean?"

"You haven't noticed?" Arthur grinned evilly. "He treats you like a son-in-law!"

"Oh no," Merlin paled.

"Welcome to the family, Merlin."

"I'm sorry Arthur, but this fake relationship is no longer going to work out for me," Merlin stated.

"It's too late for that now!" Arthur swung his arm around Merlin's shoulders. "You're one of us now! Merlin Pendragon. Sounds kind of nice, doesn't it?"

"Yes it does!" Uther suddenly shouted, and the two boys froze.

Arthur immediately blushed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh no…"

Merlin whirled around, his eyes wide, "Did he just…?"

"Yep."

"Do we have to convince your family that we're not married now?"

"Possibly."

Merlin groaned, practically burying his face in Arthur's shoulder.

This is why he hated Sunday brunch!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur finally talks to Will and learns some startling information about Merlin.

If there was one thing Arthur prided himself on, it was that he kept promises, and he definitely intended on keeping this one. It was no secret that Merlin was extremely hurt by Will's rejection of their friendship, and Arthur had promised that he would speak to the boy about it. He wasn't expecting this to be an easy conversation, but he was hoping Will would be willing to at least hear him out. After all, Will wasn't ending the friendship due to his hatred of Merlin but rather due to his extreme dislike of Arthur.

Finding him was easy. Since Merlin, Will, and Gwen only hung around each other, it was quite predictable that Will now had no one to talk to since he cut the two out of his life. That meant he was lonely, and the lonely kids tended to eat in the library rather than enter a cafeteria of people eating together.

Arthur warned Merlin he was skipping lunch beforehand. Merlin clearly knew what he was going to do, and he grinned brightly at him. It nearly made Arthur outright blush, but he managed to just smile back.

Entering the library, Arthur took a few deep breaths before looking around. Will had chosen to sit on the floor between two bookshelves with his back leaning against the wall. He was eating his lunch with a small scowl, and Arthur groaned. Great, he was already in a bad mood. Still, Arthur straightened his back and walked right towards the boy. The moment Will saw him, his scowl darkened, but it didn't phase Arthur. Instead he plopped down next to him, meeting Will's hate filled gaze with his own determined one. "Go away, prat," Will glared at him.

Arthur snorted. "Did you get that nickname from Merlin?"

Will's cheeks flushed, and he turned away, indignant. Arthur cursed himself. It hasn't even been a minute yet, and he was already messing up. "Look," Arthur tried again, "I just want to talk."

"Then do it somewhere else."

Not helpful.

Arthur took in a deep breath. "Merlin is really upset that you don't want to be his friend anymore."

"And I'm really upset that he lied to me for a long period of time," Will snapped back. "All this time he's been telling me how much he hates you, but all this time you two have been shagging! Bet you had a great laugh at me while you were doing it, huh? He probably thought it was hilarious how much I bought the whole 'we hate each other' act."

"No," Arthur reaffirmed. "It's not like that."

"He's been lying to me!" Will clenched his fists. "And don't you dare try and tell me otherwise!"

Arthur sighed. Like the rest of his friends, Will did not believe that Merlin and Arthur were not dating. That meant there were limited options to how he could approach the situation. Lying appeared to be the only option. "He was scared you wouldn't approve," he lied. "He thought you'd hate him if you found out he was dating me. I know you're not that fond of me."

Will scoffed. "Yeah, I'm not."

Still, Arthur noticed how his eyes slightly softened at the prospect that Merlin feared his rejection. Perhaps he could play off of that. "You know as well as I do that Merlin's first relationship wasn't… stable," Arthur decided to use a more neutral term. In fact, he wasn't sure how Will reacted to Merlin's relationship with Mordred. He knew Gwen didn't approve, so he figured Will was the same.

"He told you about that?" He frowned.

"Yeah," Arthur admitted.

Will rolled his eyes, picking at the bread on his sandwich. "I told that idiot that Mordred was a pedophile. He didn't listen."

"Thank you!" Arthur exclaimed. "That's what I said when I found out! Merlin is in complete denial that there was anything really wrong with it."

Will nodded in agreement. "He didn't listen to me then, and he's not listening to me now. You'd think he would learn."

"I'm not a pedophile," Arthur said defensively. "I'm his age, and I treat him with respect."

"Yeah but you haven't always done that," Will snapped.

"Okay, we got into a couple verbal fights," he appeased him. "There was some locker slamming too, but it wasn't on that level!"

"It wasn't on… do you have any idea what you're talking about?" Will practically exploded. After a sharp "shhh" from the librarian, Will lowered his voice to a hiss, "You and your friends were terrible to him! He would always come to my house practically in tears because of everything that was done to him!"

"In tears?" Arthur asked skeptically. He'd never seen Merlin cry. Sure, he had been upset in regards to his father and to Will, but he's never outright cried. "Over a few little comments?"

Will's face flushed blood red. "A few comments? Your friends kept calling him a faggot and a bastard child! They called his mother a cheap whore and him a gay slut! One time some guy threw money at him and told him to get on his knees like the faggot he was. Every day they said or did something! You're saying that was nothing?"

Arthur's lips parted and his eyes widened. "What?"

"I know he had bruises," he hissed. "They never did anything in front of me or Gwen, and Merlin always covered them, but I knew. You don't hiss in pain and double over because your friend playfully jabbed you in the ribs. You made his life a living hell, and now you're asking for my approval in your relationship? No. I'd rather have him date Mordred than date you! And I hated Mordred!"

It took a few seconds for Arthur to formulate words. "I… I had no idea," he whispered, his eyes wide. "We just got into little fights! I never… I never said anything along those lines to him! Or beat him! I'd just call him an idiot or something stupid like that."

Will snorted. "Sure. You had no idea a bunch of your friends were taunting and beating the same kid you were throwing into lockers? Merlin may believe that, but I sure as hell don't."

"Merlin never told me," he whispered. Yet, he thought, there had been hints. When Merlin had looked so surprised that Arthur didn't know his father was absent… how Merlin always appeared to be upset by the mention of his old friends… the hints were right there. Arthur should have dug deeper.

"Proves how much he trusts you in the relationship then," Will crossed his arms.

Arthur shook his head. He was getting distracted, "That's something I'll work out with Merlin," Arthur stated. "I didn't come here to feel guilty. I came here to tell you Merlin's really upset that you aren't his friend, and I think you should at least talk to him before throwing a bunch of accusations at him."

"No." Will held his head up high. "He didn't listen to me about Mordred, and I stuck around. He ended up heartbroken because of that good for nothing… What I'm saying is, this is my way of protesting your little relationship. If he doesn't want to listen to me, fine. But I won't stand around and pretend to support it like I did last time. And I sure as hell won't be the one to pick up the pieces when you break his heart."

"Believe me," Arthur stated confidently, "I have no intentions of doing so."

***

"What do you mean they're not actually dating?!"

"Keep your voice down," Gwen hissed. They were all in the hallway, and she doubted the school would want to hear that Arthur and Merlin's friends have ceased to believe they were dating. "And yes, they aren't dating."

Percival frowned, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"There's no way," Elyan shook his head. "Have you seen the two of them? They're dating!

"I ran into the girl who wrote the article," Gwen retold the story. "She said that she made it up. Morgana knew too."

"Morgana told us they were dating!" Elyan exclaimed.

"She lied too." Gwen rubbed her temples. Was this how Merlin and Arthur felt when they constantly had to tell people they weren't dating? It was frustrating. Gwen would have to apologize to Merlin later on for that.

Leon's lips parted in surprise. "So they're not dating?"

"No."

"Not even a little?"

"What? No!" Gwen threw her hands up in frustration.

"This is indeed a surprising turnout," Lancelot crossed his arms. "Perhaps we can convince them to court each other?"

Gwen shifted her gaze, and her eyes landed on Lancelot. He flushed in response, but she took no notice. Instead it appeared as though she was analyzing him, and it clearly made him uncomfortable and embarrassed. "Lancelot," she said slowly, "you want them to date, right?"

Lancelot furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Of course I do," he stated firmly. "I believe they are good together."

"So do we." Elyan took a step forward.

"Which is why it's so hard to believe they aren't actually… you know," Percival shrugged.

"Well they're not." Gwen sighed.

"So what do we do?" Percival asked, glancing at his friends. "I mean, we're going to do something right?"

"Definitely!" Elyan exclaimed. "Gwen, what are we going to do?"

Gwen sighed, "I have no idea…"


	12. Chapter 12

After school, Arthur texted Merlin to meet at the park. Arthur drove there immediately, texting his father that he would not be home for a few hours. He nearly banged his head on the steering wheel when Uther sent a wink emoji back. Who taught his father how to use emoji's? Whoever did, Arthur would find them and kill them!

Sighing, he twirled his hands together as he waited in his car, gathering courage to speak to Merlin. First, he would have to break it to Merlin that he could not convince Will to become his friend again. Second, he would have to ask Merlin about the nature of the way his friends treated him.

This was going to be emotional.

When he heard a soft knock on his window, he jumped up and gasped. Whirling around, he practically deflated when he saw it was Merlin, who was grinning at his reaction. Arthur rolled his eyes and unlocked the door, letting Merlin in so he could sit on the passengers seat. "Hey," Merlin beamed. "Sorry I scared you."

"You did not scare me!" Arthur lied, pretending to be indignant.

"Sure."

"You didn't!"

"Of course."

"Merlin!"

"How'd it go?"

Arthur gulped. It seemed like Merlin wanted to skip the banter and go right to the substance. Sighing, Arthur clenched his fists around the wheel. "Merlin," he began.

Merlin seemed to already figure it out. "He said no, didn't he?" He sounded upset but not surprised.

"I'm sorry," Arthur apologized, knowing this would be one of many. "I tried."

Merlin nodded. "Yeah," he mumbled. "I know you did."

"Merlin," Arthur shifted his body towards the smaller boy. "He said the reason why is because my old friends bullied you. He told me some of the things they would say and implied they beat you…"

Arthur trailed off, waiting for Merlin to either confirm it or deny it. Either way, Arthur knew Will was telling the truth. Arthur just had to know if Merlin would tell him the truth. Although… he would understand if Merlin lied to him. He was just hoping he wouldn't.

Merlin sighed. "Dammit Will," he mumbled under his breath.

"So it's true?" Arthur pressed.

"They didn't do it often," Merlin sighed, pulling one of his knees close to his chest. "It didn't hurt that much either. It was just a few punches. I was never actually  _beaten_. I was just… pushed around a few times. I think the words hurt more than their hits."

"I never knew," Arthur told him, hoping he would believe him. "I didn't think they would go as far as… I know I wasn't the best person to be around at that time, but I would have never went that extreme."

"I know," Merlin insisted, pausing for a moment before speaking again. "Do you remember when you said you started distancing yourself from your friends when you realized you were bi?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"That's when they were at their worst," Merlin admitted. "I know it because all of a sudden you weren't there anymore. I mean, you still hung around them, but you weren't with them when they picked on me like you used to be. It made them upset, and they took it out on me. Like I said, they didn't  _beat_  me, but they definitely started using harsher language and harsher shoves. They found out my parents weren't married, and they started calling me a bastard and a faggot. I just… at first, I didn't care. I thought as long as I was confident in myself then who cared what they thought?"

"But it got to you after a while?" Arthur asked.

Merlin nodded. "Mordred had just broken up with me, and I was feeling really vulnerable… I didn't even want to go to school, but I couldn't really figure out an excuse to stay home. My mom didn't know about my boyfriend at the time because I was scared she would have called the police or something. Either way, I was feeling vulnerable and sad, and I just didn't want to deal with them that day. They started saying all those things, and I don't know… It just got to me. And it kept getting to me."

At the mention of Mordred, Arthur practically flinched, but he wasn't going to criticize Merlin for dating him. Now was not the time to be judgmental about it. "If I had known, I would have stopped it."

Merlin smiled softly. "I don't doubt it. I noticed you were a lot nicer to me than before… not that calling me an idiot is nice, mind you, but there was this sudden lack of malice that threw me off. I kind of figured you didn't know, and once you became friends with the football team… well, I figured out why your friends were getting meaner. It was because they lost their leader. Eventually their friend group fell apart, and they stopped hanging around with each other, so their bonding over hurting me stopped. It got better."

"It should have never happened in the first place," Arthur stated. "I shouldn't have let that happen."

"You didn't know."

"Still," Arthur pushed. "I'm the one who began it. It only escalated because I gave them the power to do it in the first place. For that, I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Merlin smiled softly. "I'm a stronger person now because of it. I mean, I even managed to scare you."

Arthur snorted, his eyes softening as he took in Merlin. He truly was brave. Perhaps the bravest person Arthur had ever met… not that he'd tell Merlin that. It would be too obvious what Arthur was implying if those words ever did spill out of his mouth. For now, he would wait and keep developing this new friendship with Merlin.

And, eventually, he would tell Merlin the truth about his feelings.


End file.
